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CNN Live Today

Interview With Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight"

Aired April 30, 2003 - 10:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The MTV reality show "The Osbournes" is going to be minus one family member for a while. Seventeen-year-old son Jack Osbourne has checked himself into a rehab center. He's undergoing treatment for marijuana use and alcohol addiction.
His father Ozzy, the star of the show, says -- quoting here -- "I think being a parent is the most difficult thing on the face of the earth."

With more on the Osbourne case and a couple of Hollywood insider tips, let's go now to Los Angeles and check in with Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight" to find out what is going on with all this -- hi, Jann, how are you?

JANN CARL, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": I'm good. How are you doing this morning?

HARRIS: All right. Let's spill it, what's up with Jack here? Is this a serious thing or what?

CARL: You know, it's hard to say at this point how serious it is. Anybody who has been watching "The Osbournes" have seen that his parents have given him a hard time about marijuana use, and his sister Kelly actually has been quoted as saying that he's been "drinking and drugging a lot," and by drugging, I think she means the marijuana use. I think that Jack has been very brave. This is something that apparently he went to his mother and said, you know what, I need help, I need to do something about...

HARRIS: Oh, really? So he brought this up himself, then?

CARL: He brought it up himself. You know, we hear a lot of stories in Hollywood about major interventions going on, and the people having to hit rock bottom before they get help. But you know what, here's a kid who is 17 years old, who apparently went to his mother, went to Sharon and said, you know what, I think this is getting out of hand. I don't think this is what I should be doing, and I need some help. And then he voluntarily checked himself into a rehab center out here in California in Pasadena.

HARRIS: All right. What kind of a rehab place is this? From what I understand, there is every kind of level of place you want out there. Is this a serious, hard core joint, or is this some kind of a mental facility? How would you term this one?

CARL: You know, this one -- it's not as posh as some of those that you've heard about out here. And you are right, we have everything out here you can possibly imagine. But it's not the sort of -- I would say resort-type facility that you've heard about. This is a pretty serious rehab -- excuse me -- facility where you can go for drug addiction, you can go for alcoholism, you can also -- it also has a facility to help with mental health. From what we understand, Jack is only there for the alcohol and the marijuana, and it isn't posh. It's pretty straightforward. I think when people go to this particular facility, they're like, you know what, I need to be serious about this, I need some help, I want to clean up my act.

HARRIS: I just have got to ask you about Sharon. I mean, we all have been hearing about her health problems. Is the family going to issue a statement and say anything at all about how this may be affecting her?

CARL: They have come forward, and basically what they are saying is how proud they are of him for sort of getting a hold of this. As we know, Sharon has been battling cancer, and I understand that she went through her last round of chemo at the end of February. And when this all happened, Jack admitted that it really threw him, that his mother's cancer and, I think, the fear he had for her life, her health, might have helped, you know, with the problems that he's been having with alcohol. It's a very strong family. When you think of everything they've been through, it's a very strong family. They've been through a lot of rehabs with Ozzy, as we know. In fact, I believe Ozzy was on "LARRY KING" and at one point, he said -- meaning his kids -- They have seen vans, ambulances, police cars, you name it, I've been in a whole bunch of rehabs. And then he did say that I think my behavior put them off of the idea, you know.

Well, maybe that's why Jack got help so quickly that he did see everything that his dad suffered through. He's seen his dad go through the rehab. And Ozzy admits right now that he still has binges on alcohol. So maybe that didn't help Jack, but at the same time, maybe seeing his dad go through that and seeing the strength of his mother helped Jack realize that he needed help right away.

HARRIS: Well, as they say about sons having to suffer the sins of their fathers, may be seeing the same thing happen out here again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 30, 2003 - 10:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The MTV reality show "The Osbournes" is going to be minus one family member for a while. Seventeen-year-old son Jack Osbourne has checked himself into a rehab center. He's undergoing treatment for marijuana use and alcohol addiction.
His father Ozzy, the star of the show, says -- quoting here -- "I think being a parent is the most difficult thing on the face of the earth."

With more on the Osbourne case and a couple of Hollywood insider tips, let's go now to Los Angeles and check in with Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight" to find out what is going on with all this -- hi, Jann, how are you?

JANN CARL, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": I'm good. How are you doing this morning?

HARRIS: All right. Let's spill it, what's up with Jack here? Is this a serious thing or what?

CARL: You know, it's hard to say at this point how serious it is. Anybody who has been watching "The Osbournes" have seen that his parents have given him a hard time about marijuana use, and his sister Kelly actually has been quoted as saying that he's been "drinking and drugging a lot," and by drugging, I think she means the marijuana use. I think that Jack has been very brave. This is something that apparently he went to his mother and said, you know what, I need help, I need to do something about...

HARRIS: Oh, really? So he brought this up himself, then?

CARL: He brought it up himself. You know, we hear a lot of stories in Hollywood about major interventions going on, and the people having to hit rock bottom before they get help. But you know what, here's a kid who is 17 years old, who apparently went to his mother, went to Sharon and said, you know what, I think this is getting out of hand. I don't think this is what I should be doing, and I need some help. And then he voluntarily checked himself into a rehab center out here in California in Pasadena.

HARRIS: All right. What kind of a rehab place is this? From what I understand, there is every kind of level of place you want out there. Is this a serious, hard core joint, or is this some kind of a mental facility? How would you term this one?

CARL: You know, this one -- it's not as posh as some of those that you've heard about out here. And you are right, we have everything out here you can possibly imagine. But it's not the sort of -- I would say resort-type facility that you've heard about. This is a pretty serious rehab -- excuse me -- facility where you can go for drug addiction, you can go for alcoholism, you can also -- it also has a facility to help with mental health. From what we understand, Jack is only there for the alcohol and the marijuana, and it isn't posh. It's pretty straightforward. I think when people go to this particular facility, they're like, you know what, I need to be serious about this, I need some help, I want to clean up my act.

HARRIS: I just have got to ask you about Sharon. I mean, we all have been hearing about her health problems. Is the family going to issue a statement and say anything at all about how this may be affecting her?

CARL: They have come forward, and basically what they are saying is how proud they are of him for sort of getting a hold of this. As we know, Sharon has been battling cancer, and I understand that she went through her last round of chemo at the end of February. And when this all happened, Jack admitted that it really threw him, that his mother's cancer and, I think, the fear he had for her life, her health, might have helped, you know, with the problems that he's been having with alcohol. It's a very strong family. When you think of everything they've been through, it's a very strong family. They've been through a lot of rehabs with Ozzy, as we know. In fact, I believe Ozzy was on "LARRY KING" and at one point, he said -- meaning his kids -- They have seen vans, ambulances, police cars, you name it, I've been in a whole bunch of rehabs. And then he did say that I think my behavior put them off of the idea, you know.

Well, maybe that's why Jack got help so quickly that he did see everything that his dad suffered through. He's seen his dad go through the rehab. And Ozzy admits right now that he still has binges on alcohol. So maybe that didn't help Jack, but at the same time, maybe seeing his dad go through that and seeing the strength of his mother helped Jack realize that he needed help right away.

HARRIS: Well, as they say about sons having to suffer the sins of their fathers, may be seeing the same thing happen out here again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com