'We got ripped off': John Lydon claims Vladimir Putin owes him money for cancelled Ukraine gig
John Lydon quipped that he is owed money by Russian despot Vladimir Putin after his band Public Image Ltd were unable to perform in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion last year.
John Lydon is owed money by Vladimir Putin.
The former Sex Pistols frontman had been due to play a gig in Ukraine with his band Public Image Ltd before the Russian invasion in February 2022 and he blames the tyrant for leaving him out of pocket after the show was cancelled.
Asked for his worst decision by The Daily Telegraph newspaper, John said: "Playing in Ukraine with PiL just before the Russians invaded. We got ripped off. The promoter didn't turn up with the money. They left us stranded there and we had to get out of the place as quickly as possible.
"And perhaps foolishly I said in an interview, 'Now Putin can pay us what the Ukrainians owe.' That was a lead balloon of serious proportions."
John also recalled how he and his late wife Nora Forster - who passed away in April after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease - annoyed Donald Trump at a glitzy New York event after she accidentally tore Jennifer Lopez's dress.
The 67-year-old rocker recalled: "I'll never forget my dear Nora accidentally treading on Jennifer Lopez's dress at a gala in New York and next to her was Donald Trump, who turned around, looked at me and said, 'Who let this hooligan in?'
"Nora's high heel had torn J-Lo's frock, but what did she expect when she had a 10ft f****** train?
"It was hilarious to see their anger at watching the dress shred before their eyes."
John, also known by his stage moniker Johnny Rotten, explained how he felt it was necessary to quit the Sex Pistols in 1978 (although he later returned for revivals in the 1990s and 2000s) as it was becoming a "charade" being in the band.
He said: "By the end it was turning into a charade and I had no wish to sing the same songs for ever and ever and turn into the Rolling Stones."
