Ozzy Osbourne has responded to a statement issued by Bill Ward earlier in the week, in which the drummer said only a personal apology from Osbourne could tempt him to rejoin Black Sabbath.

In a post on Facebook, Osbourne claims he has “no option but to respond honestly” to Ward’s comments.

“Wow, Bill. What the fuck are you on about? I cannot apologize for comments or opinions I may have made about you in the press during Sabbath’s ‘13‘ album and tour– physically, you knew you were fucked. Tony, Geezer and myself didn’t think you could have done a two hour set with a drum solo every night, so we made the decision to move on. With Tony’s condition we felt that time was not on our side.”

He adds: “Bill, stop this smokescreen about an ‘unsignable contract’ and let’s be honest. Deep down inside you knew you weren’t capable of doing the album and a 16 month tour. Unfortunately for you, our instincts were correct as you were in hospital several times during 2013. Your last hospitalization was for a shoulder surgery that you now say you’ve only just recovered from. This would have meant that our world tour would have been canceled. So how is all of this my fault? Stop playing the victim and be honest with yourself and our fans.”

Osbourne ends the post by reaching out to Ward, saying “Bill, we go back a long way, let’s stop this now before it gets out of hand. God bless you.”