Geezer Butler insists he tried to reach out to his former Black Sabbath bandmate Ozzy Osbourne as the singer battled illness.
Ozzy called Butler a "fucking arsehole" in a recent interview, saying the bassist hadn't checked in on him through a number of health worries.
Most recently, Ozzy had to come to terms with a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease last year.
Butler's alleged lack of contact was very different to how Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi handled the news, according to the Prince of Darkness. Iommi, Ozzy said, spoke with him regularly.
But now Butler has refuted Ozzy's claims.
In a post on Instagram, Butler says: "Rumour has it Ozzy is upset, saying he never received my get well messages.
"I made two different attempts at getting in touch during his illnesses. My first email (8 Feb, 2019) went through his office because I didn’t have Ozzy’s new number to text him. Sharon responded but I didn’t hear back from Ozzy.
"Eleven months later (21 Jan, 2020), I emailed Sharon to check on Oz. That email went unanswered.
"I don’t want to engage in a tit for tat. Having made two attempts to wish Ozzy well without a reply, I figured it best to privately keep him in my thoughts."
Butler has previously admitted the pair are not as close as they once were. In his autobiography Into The Void, Butler wrote: "Me and Ozzy are fine, it's just that we're both ruled by our wives.
"He's got a big heart and was always there for me in times of trouble.. We might not be as close as we were, but we'll always be brothers."
