John Lydon has hit out at the Danny Boyle-directed Sex Pistols series 'Pistol', saying "it's dead against everything we once stood for."
Speaking to The Guardian, the former Sex Pistols singer hit out at the show, saying "the only thing you’ve got of value in your life, and you’re going to cheapen that because you want an extra fiver? Not much of a human being there.”
Lydon admitted he hadn't seen the series and had only seen the trailer, but wrote it off as "karaoke, really."
"The voices, the way they’re talking … it sounds like a bunch of kids from Tring, all discussing the latest calamities! That ain’t it at all! It’s so off."
Director Danny Boyle said he "wanted" Lydon to attack the series, and Lydon responded to the Oscar-winning director's comments.
"Oh, how fey of him! It’s disgusting, really. How can you be truthful when you don’t involve the main frontman who wrote those songs and had to take the hidings and kickings and public admonishments?"
'Pistol' is based on Steve Jones' memoir "Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol" and as such the series is presented from the perspective of Jones.
In our review of 'Pistol', we called it one of the best shows of the year, and praised the series for showing the human cost of the punk revolution of the 70s.
We praised Anson Boon for a star-making turn as Johnny Rotten, and also highlighted how the series dives into the political and social aspect of the punk revolution.
Lydon had previously written the show off as "a middle-class fantasy that bears little resemblance to the truth," and claimed the show was "greenlit without my consent."
Lydon lost a legal battle in 2021 against his former bandmates after he had initially refused to license the bands music for the show.
Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook won the legal battle, with their lawyer citing a 1998 band agreement that decisions about licensing requests could be determined on a “majority rules basis”.
'Pistol' is available to stream on Disney+, and Lydon's band, Public Image LTD were just in Dublin for a concert at the National Stadium alongside psychedelic Dublin rockers MELTS.
