Early this year, news broke that a Sex Pistols TV show, based on Steve Jones’ 2018 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol, was in the works.
And now according to NME, Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon) is seeking legal advice against the film, due to the fact that it is being produced and created without his ‘consent’ or his ‘participation’.
The show, known as Pistols, created by Danny Boyle is reportedly set to detail the all that was crucial to the band’s larger than life purpose.
Pistols takes us from West London’s council estates, to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s iconic SEX shop, explores the international controversy of Never Mind the Bollocks and more.
During a recent interview with the The Sunday Times, Lydon stated that Boyle never contacted him and furthermore, Boyle’s team also reportedly declined to comment on the situation.
Lydon said, “I think that’s 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 continued, “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.”
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According to NME, a spokesperson from the Pistols team allegedly did reach out to Lydon’s team however, “Ultimately direct contact was declined.”
In an earlier statement on the film’s release, Boyle said, “Imagine breaking into the world of The Crown and Downton Abbey with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent. This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever.”
Boyle continued, “It is the detonation point for British street culture…where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion…and everyone had to watch and listen…and everyone feared them or followed them. The Sex Pistols. At its center was a young charming illiterate kleptomaniac – a hero for the times – Steve Jones, who became in his own words, the 94th greatest guitarist of all time. This is how he got there.”
Pistol is based on guitarist Steve Jones’ 2018 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol, and is being made as a limited FX series.
Watch ‘God Save The Queen’ by the Sex Pistols.
