Piers Morgan lifts the lid on what Sharon Osbourne thinks of stars

Piers Morgan, the former Daily Mirror editor, certainly has a talent for it: controversy.

Sharon Osbourne is said to be angry at him after her colourful opinions on celebrities from Bono to Mick Jagger and Bryan Ferry appeared in his latest diaries.

The television talent show judge was alleged to have said that Hollywood actress Melanie Griffith had "destroyed herself" with plastic surgery and that actor Michael Douglas had "another terrible face job".

Bono was called "a twat", Diana Ross "an awful woman" and Mick Jagger "always up some lord or lady's arse on a Persian rug".

Nor did she much like Madonna, apparently. Mr Morgan claims Osbourne's comment about her were brutal: "What a !@*§! Honestly, I'd like to punch her."

The comments were in the Daily Mail yesterday as it began the serialisation of Mr Morgan's new book: Don't You Know Who I Am? Insider Diaries Of Fame, Power and Naked Ambition.

Morgan, who has built a successful television career in the US, was accused of rehashing a magazine interview with Osbourne to promote his book. Sources close to Osbourne said the comments had been corrected when they first appeared in GQ magazine and that Morgan had taken them out of a context to drum up attention.

"It was agreed that the interview was only meant to be for GQ. That's a grown-up magazine with a certain amount of irreverence and the interview reflected that. It was not meant to be sold again and used so Piers could sell more books."

Morgan, sacked as editor of the Mirror in May 2004 over fake photographs showing British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, interviewed Osbourne at the Groucho Club, London, in June 2005.

A source close to Osbourne, wife of former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, said she, "would never use the c-word. It was fun gossip, meant tongue-in-cheek. It's the way Sharon is, but it comes across differently when it's written in black and white."

Other familiar faces on the receiving end of Mr Morgan's latest diary notes include columnist Rod Liddle and ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, who is alleged to have told Morgan: "I'm happier with my life than I suspect Mick is with his."

Mr Morgan's first volume of diaries, The Insider, was also criticised for revealing celebrity secrets.

The 'IoS' has suspended its normal policy of quoting swear words in full, to spare readers' sensitivities