Jack Osbourne first came onto the scene as part of the hit MTV reality series The Osbournes. The curly-haired son of Ozzy Osbourne is now a dad himself to daughter Pearl and running his own production company, Schweet Entertainment. We spoke exclusively with Jack about his battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), his career, and how he’s handling his daughter’s Terrible Two’s!
So first thing’s first. Happy (almost) birthday to Pearl. She turns two tomorrow.
Thank you very much! We made it to number 2!
Any big plans for her birthday?
She’s obsessed with animals, so we’re having a petting zoo. Well, to call it a petting zoo would be an exaggeration. It’s a goat, a sheep and five bunny rabbits. Oh, and there’s a piglet, too. I’m being corrected by my wife. So she’ll have a little petting zoo action and a fun jump.
I remember seeing you on The Osbournes and to see your transformation in the reality TV world has been amazing, especially your show You Don’t Know Jack.
Thank you very much, I appreciate that! You Don’t Know Jack came about as a bit of a passion project, having been diagnosed with MS. There were a lot of unknowns for me and I knew I wasn’t the only person facing that. I had the opportunity to put together these little webisodes and start this awareness campaign. It shows my day to day, at home with my wife and my kid and doing family stuff. It goes into how my life now is living with MS.
What would you want the takeaway for people to be?
The biggest takeaway is that you can still have a relatively normal life. Yes, there are some changes but that kind of comes with the territory when you get any kind of diagnosis.
I have to give it to you and your wife, Lisa. You’ve gone through a lot, normal life challenges, and you are sharing that with the world.
I think there’s a general misconception that when you’re a celebrity or in the media, that you’re somehow impervious to life. At the end of the day, we’re people; we’re no different than anyone else. There have been some things that me and my wife have been blessed to have, and there have been some downers, too. You just have to take everything in stride.
Have there been parts that have been harder to film?
Not really. I produce the segments as well. I have a lot of input in what we do, so we sit together and talk about the topics that we want to show people. Anyone with MS will tell you that you have your good days and your bad days. But the treatment that I’m on is a huge component as to why I’m not in a worse state, along with the lifestyle changes I’ve tried to implement. Since I finished Dancing with the Stars in December, I’ve had almost zero symptoms. I think being on the show, because of the workload and how physical it was, I was getting the odd twinge here and there.
Let’s talk about your partnership with Teva Pharmaceuticals.
The partnership came about rather organically. I wanted to put this awareness campaign together and Teva wanted to partner up and help me. We worked together to figure out how to deliver the message as clear and as concise as possible.
What other projects do you have going on?
I’ve been working with Fuse going on for two years. I’m not sure how that’s going to work out, since we’ve just been bought out by JLo! [laughs] Hopefully I’ll have a job next year. It’s been an amazing experience though. My production company, Schweet Entertainment, have been cranking out so many shows. We’ve sold 4-5 shows and we have a bunch in development. A lot of my energy goes into producing. I’m just enjoying spending time with my family and watching my child grow.
Has she come into the Terrible Twos yet, or have you been spared?
Oh no, literally within the last two weeks, she’s gone from being this nice, sweet, obedient, angelic child to this candy fiending demon. [laughs] We would give her a treat here and there, but now no, it’s game over. No treats. Nothing, because she’s just gone mental.
How would you describe yourself as a parent and how does it differ from your wife’s?
I rarely ever get frustrated with Pearl. I’m pretty mellow with her, but she was pushing me on Sunday. I like to take her places. I would get up with her every morning and take her someplace for breakfast. I take her with me when I see my friends. Lisa is more hands-on with her; she’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all the baby stuff. She’s well read and well-versed on children. Honestly, it’s a wonderful time in my life, and I’m enjoying it all.