John Lydon: My Wife’s ‘Black Lover’ Was My Grandson

John Lydon, formerly known as the Sex Pistol's Johnny Rotten and about to hit Australian shores touring with his long-time group PIL (aka Public Image Ltd), has lashed out at the media for perpetuating gross distortions regarding his life:

“There was some awful shit written about me a couple of years ago. That was SO bad and SO hurtful and it was insane to accuse me of this: racism. How do you explain that to my Jamaican-born grandkids who were living with us at the time, because their mother Ari [Foster] of The Slits who died of cancer recently, and god bless her soul, had to listen to this and all of Jamaica going, 'What are they talk about, John?' You know?”

Regarding a rumour that his wife was seen 'with her black lover', Lydon elaborates on the lack of accountability for the rumour mill, explaining that “Her 'black lover' was my grandson. And there's no kickback or making up for such a lie… You work for the press: why can't I stop such an obvious lie? You know the answer, don't you? Because nobody wants to print the truth, because that's not what anybody's interested in, right? And the hurt and damage… We laughed about it later – years later – but not at the time.”

The former punk turned dairy spruiker (he recently fronted a TV ad campaign for Country Butter in the UK) believes that honesty is important to him - Lydon is proud of his musical and personal ethics:

“I won't make a pop-tart record for the sake of money. I mean what I say, I live by my words… Call me 'cunt', if you like, but this is an honest cunt, 'cause I don't know how to be any other kinda cunt.” 

Read the full interview here.