Following the release of Peter Jackson’s The Beatles documentary, Get Back, fans are changing their tune on the time-honoured theory that Yoko Ono is to blame for the Fab Four’s demise.

Jackson’s eight-hour marathon documentary, which premiered on Disney+ earlier this month, casts its lens on the recording sessions from the Beatles final album, 1970’s Let It Be. It was a time famously riddled with interpersonal tensions between the band members, that would ultimately lead to their breakup.

Get Back is the first, extensive portrait of the era. Until now, the only documentation of the Let It Be period was Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s accompanying eponymous documentary, released in concurrence with the album. Lindsay-Hogg’s documentary was a bit of a downer, a bleak look at the band on the knifes edge of breaking up. None of the band showed face at the film’s premiere, with Ringo Starr famously objecting that it had “no joy.”

Jackon’s documentary reframes the recording of Let It Be in a more optimistic light. Assembled from 60 hours of footage shot by Lindsay-Hogg, Get Back is as much a documentary about the final days of The Beatles as it is a film about the making of a film.

The documentary also obliquely addresses the long-held break-up theory that Yoko Ono is to blame for the bands downfall. “It’s going to be such an incredibly comical thing in 50 years time,” McCartney jokes with Lennon and Ono during the film. “‘They broke up ’cause Yoko sat on an amp’.”

Yoko Ono is ultimately, a benign and harmless presence in the documentary. During her time in the studio, she is mostly seen quitely reading the newspaper, checking her mail, and snacking.

In light of the films premiere, Beatles fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the Yoko Ono lore.

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Its a sentiment that Peter Jackson shares, during a recent appearance on 60 Minutes, the director said, “I have no issues with Yoko.”

“I can understand from George and Paul and Ringo’s point of view it’s, like, a little strange. But the thing with Yoko, though, that they have to say, is that she doesn’t impose herself,” he continued. “She’s writing letters, she’s reading letters, she’s doing sewing, she’s doing painting, sometimes some artwork off to the side. She never has opinions about the stuff they’re doing.”

On Saturday, November 27th, Yoko Ono took to Twitter to throw her support behind the documentary, through sharing the UPROXX article, “Beatles Fans Think ‘Get Back’ Dispels The Idea That Yoko Ono Broke The Band Up.”

During a recent interview with Howard Stern on SiriusXM, Paul McCartney reflected on Ono and Lennon’s relationship. “We thought she was intrusive, because she used to sit in on the recording sessions, and we’d never had anything like that,” he said. “But looking back on it, you think, ‘The guy was totally in love with her. And you’ve just got to respect that.’ So we did. And I do.”

Get Back is available to stream now on Disney+

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