Paul McCartney has sparked outrage among Beatles fans after resurfacing a controversial claim once made by Yoko Ono about her husband John Lennon’s sexuality.
The unexpected revelation quickly ignited heated reactions online, with many fans questioning why the topic was brought up decades after Lennon’s tragic passing and accusing McCartney of speaking about a former bandmate who is no longer here to respond.
Highlights
- Paul McCartney sparked debate among fans after revisiting a decades-old conversation with Yoko Ono about John Lennon in a recently resurfaced interview.
- The comments quickly drew backlash online, with many fans questioning the timing of the revelation and criticizing the former Beatles bandmate for discussing Lennon’s s*xual orientation years after his demise.
- McCartney also addressed Lennon’s 1963 trip to Spain with the band’s manager Brian Epstein, a moment that has fueled endless speculation and rumors for decades.
One furious commenter wrote, “Paul McCartney is such a creep. Only a nasty, evil man would sell out his past band-mate who is not around to defend himself.”
Paul McCartney first made the controversial claims in a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, which has recently resurfaced
Image credits: Mike Marsland/WireImage
The Beatles’ founder, co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist John Lennon had three reportedly high-profile relationships during his lifetime.
He was married twice, first to Cynthia Powell from 1962 to 1968 and then to Yoko Ono from 1969 until his demise in 1980.
During a high-profile 18-month separation from Ono, Lennon reportedly lived and worked in Los Angeles and New York with his personal assistant, May Pang.
Image credits: Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns
The two had a romantic relationship for 18 months before he eventually reconciled with Ono in early 1975.
During an interview with Vanity Fair, originally conducted in 2015 and republished last month on February 27 to coincide with the release of the documentary Man on the Run, Lennon’s former bandmate Paul McCartney revealed doubts that the now 93-year-old Ono once had about her late husband’s sexual orientation.
Image credits: Mirror Syndication International/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
He told the outlet about an incident from 1980, shortly after Lennon was fatally sh*t by an obsessed fan, Mark David Chapman, when Ono reportedly called him and said she believed her husband “might have been gay.”
He recalled, “She rang me not long after John d**d and said, ‘You know, I think John might have been gay.’”
John Lennon’s second wife, Yoko Ono, reportedly voiced her doubts about her late husband’s sexuality to McCartney following Lennon’s passing
Image credits: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
However, the 83-year-old musician expressed skepticism about Ono’s claim, citing his long personal and professional history with Lennon.
McCartney added, “I went, ‘I’m not sure.’ I said, ‘I don’t think so. Certainly not when I knew him’... because we’d been in the ’60s. We’d been around with loads and loads of girls. And I bumped into seeing him jacking … a lot of girl action.”
Moreover, Paul claimed that despite often sharing beds while touring, there was “never a gesture, never an expression” that suggested Lennon was attracted to men.
Image credits: Bob Gruen
“There was never anything… It was nothing. So I had no reason to believe this at all.”
McCartney also suggested Ono’s comment may have been a product of the intense emotional distress following Lennon’s passing, noting that he himself said “crazy things” after losing his first wife, Linda McCartney, who passed away in 1998.
“When I lost Linda, I said some pretty crazy things. I look back on them now and go, That’s grief. That’s just what you do.”
Image credits: United Press International
The Here Comes The Sun singer also addressed the long-running speculation surrounding a 1963 trip Lennon took to Spain with the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, who was openly gay, which had fueled rumors at the time.
But Paul dismissed the trip as a “power play” on Lennon’s part, saying, “Brian would ask him as a homosexual thing - a good-looking boy who Brian fancied. They went down to Spain, had a fun time. No doubt John would play into the thing.”
The claims were further fueled by long-standing rumors surrounding the relationship between John and the band’s former gay manager
“I personally didn’t think anything had happened. Certainly never heard about anything happening. But I saw it as, ‘You want to deal with the Beatles? I’m the leader.’”
The comments did not sit well with fans of the music legend, many of whom harshly criticized both Yoko and Paul over what they perceived as the “questionable timing” of the claims.
One person said, “Right, when the man can’t defend himself… Who cares John Lennon was awesome fabulous songwriter singer it’s no one’s business let John rest in peace.”
Image credits: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Another added, “Even if he was ono shouldn't be sharing that,” while a third user in agreement commented, “Sorry but even if John was gay, why should it make any difference to the man he was and still remembered as?”
One netizen bluntly wrote online, “That's just gossip. It's a shame that McCartney is spreading it. I'm sure there are rumors about him too regarding this or that.”
Others questioned, “He's been d**d for 46 years, and suddenly this is a story? Unless they've uncovered some lost Beatles' recordings, I really don't care what he did in his off time.”
Image credits: Capitol Records
“I wouldn’t believe a word Yoko Ono says…”
However, some fans speculated that the Imagine singer might have been bisexual instead.
One user expressed, “He might have been bi… It was the 50's, 60's and 70's so people experimented se*xually…”
While Paul denied the speculation, netizens criticized him, with many questioning his “motive” and “timing” for bringing up the resurfaced claims
Image credits: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Others echoed the sentiment, with one adding, “Very possible that he was bisexual…”
The bisexual speculation had also surfaced in a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast, where Ono stated that she and John believed everyone was naturally bisexual, but that Lennon was likely “too inhibited” to ever act on any desires he might have had for men.
She shared with the publication, “John and I had a big talk about it, saying, basically, all of us must be bisexual. And we were sort of in a situation of thinking that we’re not [bisexual] because of society. So we are hiding the other side of ourselves, which is less acceptable.”
As for the musical partnership between Lennon and McCartney, it is widely considered one of the most successful and influential in music history.
The documentary Man on the Run focuses on Paul’s life and career between the breakup of the Beatles in 1970 and Lennon’s demise in 1980.
The film concludes in the early 1980s, exploring how Lennon’s demise devastated McCartney and ultimately contributed to the end of the band Wings, which he had formed with his wife Linda.
“Who cares, his music was incredible and is what defines him,” wrote one fan of the English music legend
