John Lydon, A.K.A Johnny Rotten, has lost a lawsuit against his former Sex Pistols bandmates over an upcoming Danny Boyle mini-series.
ICYMI, Johnny Rotten was being sued by two former bandmates for refusing to licence their music for inclusion in the TV show Pistols.
Guitarist Steve Jones– whose 2016 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol inspired the show – and drummer Paul Cook teamed up to legally challenge Lydon’s veto.
As reported by The Associated Press, Jones and Cooks’ lawyer Edmund Cullen told the London High Court last month that a band agreement made in 1998 stated that decisions about licensing requests were to be made on a “majority rules basis.”
Now, Johnny Rotten has lost the lawsuit as the court ruled that Jones and Cook were entitled to invoke “majority voting rules” against their bandmate.
While Rotten argued that licensing could not be granted without his consent, the band’s original bassist Glen Matlock, and the estate of late bassist Sid Vicious, both supported the inclusion of the band’s music in the show.
The six-part TV series is set to star Games of Thrones’ Maisie Williams as Jordan Mooney (A.K.A Pamela Rooke), as well as Australian actor Toby Wallace as Jones.
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On top of that, Anson Boon will depict Rotten, while Louis Patridge will play Vicious.
In an interview with The Sunday Times back in April, Rotten described the series as “the most disrespectful shit I’ve ever had to endure.”
“I mean, they went to the point to hire an actor to play me but what’s the actor working on? Certainly not my character. It can’t go anywhere else [but court],” he said.
Sorry, you think you can do this, like walk all over me – it isn’t going to happen. Not without a huge, enormous fucking fight. I’m Johnny, you know, and when you interfere with my business you’re going to get the bitter end of my business as a result. It’s a disgrace,” he concluded.
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