John Lydon has branded his Sex Pistols bandmates “greedy” and “nasty”.
The punk band’s former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones were locked in a High Court battle with Lydon – who performed in the group under the name Johnny Rotten – to be allowed to use their songs in TV drama ‘Pistol’, which is being directed by Danny Boyle and made by Disney.
The 65-year-old rocker had claimed that they could not use the tracks without his consent, however, Cook and Jones argued that an agreement formed in 1998 – a band member agreement (BMA) – means that a majority basis settles any decisions regarding licensing of The Sex Pistols music.
And in a ruling last week, it was decided that the pair were entitled to invoke majority voting rules against the singer in relation to the use of Sex Pistols material in the series, under the terms of that band member agreement.
And now, Lydon, who had branded the outcome of his lost court battle as “destructive” and “disingenuous”, has slammed his ex-bandmates and claimed he’s been “fleeced of £2 million”.
Speaking on the opening night of his extensive ‘I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right’ spoken-word tour this week, he ranted: “They’ve turned themselves into really greedy, selfish, nasty f****. But c’est la vie.
“My problem with all that is that they never bothered to mention all this. It was three years in the planning and they kept it all secret.
“I have just been fleeced of £2 million. I could not give a f***. It is only money.”
Lydon had appeared in court on July 21, and argued that the BMA had “never been applied in anything we have ever done since 1998”, while also branding the Disney mini-series as “the most disrespectful s*** I’ve ever had to endure”.
He said: “I don’t understand how Steve and Paul think they have the right to insist that I do something that I so morally heart and soul disagree with without any involvement.”
However, Edmund Cullen QC – representing Cook and Jones – accused Lydon of giving “false evidence” which prompted him to retort: “False evidence? I’m sorry, how? Where?”
Cullen also told the court during the week-long hearing that Glen Matlock – an original member of the band – supported their position and backed the series and that written submission from the late Sid Vicious’ estate were also in support of Cook and Jones.
Lydon hit back at the court’s decision and insisted he finds it “dumbfounding” that the six-part series was allowed to be revealed to the world without him being consulted, given he is the frontman and “image” of the ‘God Save the Queen’ group.