Johnny Rotten Claims ‘Pistol’ Court Case Has Left Him in ‘Financial Ruin’
Last month, Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook won a High Court ruling over singer Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon) while seeking the ability to license their music for the upcoming TV series Pistol based off a book by Jones. In the time since, both sides have traded barbs publicly over how the court case played out, but Rotten is now claiming that the loss in court has also seriously damaged his financial standing.
Speaking with The Telegraph (as shared by Classic Rock), the vocalist revealed, “I’m seriously in a state of financial ruin. I’ve got no more savings, no more loans, no pensions. I’ve got nothing … I’m fucked, and I’m scuppered in so many different ways.”
Rotten continued, “This entire juggernaut of confusion has cost me millions. Such a hideous, nasty onslaught; I never expected Steve, Paul and Glen to be that evil. And we never even sat down and had a conversation about it.”
The conflict arose over the use of the band's music in the upcoming Danny Boyle-helmed series. Jones and Cook, who also had the backing of Glen Matlock, sought to invoke a "majority rule" clause that was part of their 1998 band member agreement concerning the use of licensing music.
Rotten has stated that he was concerned not only over how the music was being used but how he was to be portrayed in the series and that when he asked for more info, he was met with the lawsuit instead. The court backed the Jones and Cook's "majority rule" assertion, giving the series the go ahead to use the music.
Rotten has since issued an open letter on his website sharing his side of the story, while Jones and Cook followed with their own statement refuting some of the singer's claims.
“This became Walt Disney money versus me,” the singer continued. “Who do you think’s gonna win? Money talks and Johnny Rotten takes a walk. It’s a strange, strange world we live in. The Sex Pistols have become the property of Mickey fucking Mouse.”
The vocalist went on to call Jones and Cook "poison" for pushing forward with an action that would destroy the band. And he also shared his concern over what this would mean to him financially as he has become the primary care giver for his wife who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
“If anything happened to me, what could happen to Nora?,” he asks, rhetorically. “Seeing as they’ve stolen all my money. It’s a very serious problem… I’m gonna have to work really hard to gain anything like a fundamentally stable environment to take care of my loved ones."