Ozzy Osbourne has fired back after a man claiming to be his former manager recently referred to his marital woes as “a publicity stunt”.

Sharon Osbourne‘s alleged split with longtime husband Ozzy Osbourne is nothing more than a ploy to revive interest in the heavy-metal rocker before he goes on tour, Ozzy’s “former manager” told RadarOnline.com earlier this month in an exclusive interview. “I would put money on [the fact that] it’s a publicity stunt,” Steven Machat, who claims to have managed the rock star in the early 1980s, told Radar. “They’re going on a Black Sabbath tour. She would do this in a minute – it’s propaganda! Sharon is clever enough to make a story that the press would read, so all of a sudden he becomes relevant again,” Machat said.

Ozzy has posted the following message via Facebook, addressed to Radar Online and Daily Mail: “In response to recent stories you printed with comments from Steven Machat… for the record, Mr. Machat NEVER managed me nor was he employed by me in any capacity at any time in my career. His representation of this is a categorical lie. I met him when he was hanging around the music industry in the early 80’s, but haven’t seen him in at least 30 years. He’s a sad delusional relic from the 80s.”

Ozzy told his wife, Sharon, “he’ll go to any lengths necessary to repair the damage” caused by his alleged tryst with L.A. hairstylist Michelle Pugh, a source recently revealed to Us Weekly.

Thus, the estranged pair recently sat for a “mediated discussion” with a marriage counsellor, says the insider, who adds, “He wants his family back.”

Since the couple separated after nearly 33 years of marriage in early May, a second source says Ozzy has been “groveling” to Sharon, 63, in hopes of regaining her trust. But with the Black Sabbath frontman heading out on the group’s world tour this summer, time is running out.

Read more at Us Weekly.