Sharon Osbourne, Agent Blame Each Other in Fight

Police are investigating a dust-up between Sharon Osbourne, the matriarch of MTV’s reality television series, and a talent agent at a West Hollywood restaurant Thursday night.

The agent says Osbourne spit at her. Osbourne says the agent slugged her in the face. LAPD detectives are trying to sort it all out.

“Two reports were taken of a mutual battery,” said Sgt. John Pasquariello, an LAPD spokesman. “This one woman says Sharon spit on her and Sharon said the other woman struck her in the face. The situation resulted from a verbal dispute stemming from a raffle at an Osbourne party. This other person won something and Sharon didn’t think she did it properly.”

Police were called to Koi, a Japanese restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, at 10:45 p.m. Neither woman was arrested, but both were interviewed and photographed. If investigators determine that a misdemeanor assault occurred, they will refer the case to the Los Angeles city attorney for possible prosecution.

On Friday, a publicist for Osbourne e-mailed dozens of news organizations, saying that the 50-year-old television personality had been viciously assaulted and treated at a hospital after the police questioning.

The publicist denied that Osbourne had spit at the other woman, Renee Tab, a motion picture agent for International Creative Management in Beverly Hills.

Osbourne is recovering from colon cancer surgery and chemotherapy and is in a weakened state, she said.

“Sharon just finished chemo. I’d like to see how many chemo patients can do what she’s accused of,” said publicist Lisa Vega. “Sharon’s the one who’s injured. The side of her face is swollen black and blue.”

Tab, 26, and her attorney, Orrin Snyder, failed to return messages seeking comment Friday.

Police say the flashpoint for the incident appeared to be a lingering dispute over an expensive party favor Tab won at a New Year’s Eve party Osbourne and her husband, Ozzy, threw at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

According to authorities and previous statements by both women, Tab won a diamond necklace worth at least $15,000 that was raffled off at the party. But in a police report filed after the event, Osbourne and her husband said the raffle was for invited guests only and that Tab had not been invited.

Representatives for MTV and International Creative Management distanced themselves from the fracas.

“To the best of our knowledge, the events of [Thursday] night are of a private nature between Mrs. Osbourne and Ms. Tab,” said International Creative Management spokesman David Lux. “Until such time as an investigation is completed, we have nothing upon which to comment.”

Vanessa Reyes, a spokeswoman for MTV, said, “This doesn’t have anything at all to do with MTV.”