Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook have responded to John Lydon‘s comments following a recent lawsuit against his bandmates.
Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, lost his legal battle against his former bandmates last month. Lydon was sued after refusing to license the group’s music for inclusion in Danny Boyle’s upcoming biopic series, Pistol.
- READ MORE: Is John Lydon still a punk?
Following the verdict, Lydon issued a lengthy statement claiming that he didn’t know about the proposed use of Sex Pistols music in the new series until “just a few hours” before it was announced, and he had no idea how the band would be portrayed in it.
Jones and Cook have now issued a new statement disputing Lydon’s claims, via Blabbermouth.
“Despite John Lydon’s comments on his website, we reiterate that he was informed of the Pistol TV series, offered meetings with the director and to be involved in the show months before principal photography began,” the statement reads. “He refused these offers and we were saddened he would not engage and at least have a conversation with the director Danny Boyle and co-showrunner Craig Pearce.
“And while John’s contribution is rightly acknowledged, his claims to be the only band member of consequence are hard to take. Steve, Paul and Glen started the band and it was completed when John joined. All songs on the band’s seminal ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ album were written by Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Rotten except ‘Holidays In The Sun’ and ‘Bodies’ which were penned by Cook, Jones, Rotten and Vicious. In addition, Pistol is based on Steve Jones’ book Lonely Boy.”
It continued: “John Lydon sold his rights to control the use of these songs in the 1990s in return for money. The majority rule agreement existed as a result – so no outside party could dictate the use of the band’s music. And to have a mechanism in place if one member was unfairly blocking the decision making process – which is what happened in this instance.
“The rest of the band and many others involved in the punk scene of the time are all involved in the Pistol TV series. Danny Boyle, has worked with the Pistols previously and is a highly respected, Oscar winning filmmaker. He understands the band and experienced the time that made them.”
Lydon has today (September 7) hit back at his former bandmates’ statement during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, branding the pair “filthy liars” over their claim that he was informed about the Pistol series.
“When they say I was ‘informed’, they don’t certify a date… Two-faced hypocrites,” he added. “How are you gonna do a documentary on punk without, hate to be pretentious about this, without Mr. Rotten?”
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