BLABBERMOUTH.NET
According to the
Associated Press, two members of the
SEX PISTOLS are suing
John Lydon over the right to use the band's songs in the upcoming biopic miniseries about the U.K. punk legends.
Earlier this year,
Lydon, who is better known as
Johnny Rotten, blasted the upcoming
SEX PISTOLS limited series as "disrespectful," insisting that he wasn't approached to take part in the show's production.
"Pistol" is a six-episode series about
SEX PISTOLS guitarist
Steve Jones. It is based on
Jones's 2018 memoir
"Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol" and it is being helmed by
Academy Award winner
Danny Boyle, who serves as executive producer and director.
Edmund Cullen, the lawyer that represents
Jones and drummer
Paul Cook, told a judge at the High Court in London on Thursday that his clients have a "brittle and fractious" relationship with
Lydon, but that the musicians had made an agreement in 1988 that song usage would be on a "majority rules basis" and that they also had the support of bassist
Glen Matlock and the estate of the late
Sid Vicious.
Lydon's lawyer,
Mark Cunningham, said in written arguments that
Jones's memoir portrayed him "in a hostile and unflattering light," referring to
Lydon at one point as an "annoying little brat with the great bone structure who's always asking for more."
This past April,
Lydon reacted to publicity shots promoting
"Pistol", telling
The Sunday Times: "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]."
Lydon also claimed that he has never been contacted by
Boyle about
"Pistol" even though the two had met during preparations for the 2021 London Olympics opening ceremony.
He added: "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."
A spokesperson for the
"Pistol" production told
The Sunday Times that
Boyle reached out to
Lydon's management company about the planned series but "ultimately direct contact was declined."
"Pistol" was created by
Craig Pearce and written by
Pearce and
Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Jones,
Boyle and
Pearce serve as executive producers alongside
Gail Lyon,
Anita Camarata,
Tracey Seaward,
Paul Lee,
Hope Hartman and
Wiip. The series is produced by
FX Productions.
Anchored by
Jones's memoir, which offers a fascinating new perspective on one of rock's greatest ever stories,
"Pistol" moves from West London's council estates, to
Vivienne Westwood and
Malcolm McLaren's notorious Kings Road SEX shop, to the international controversy that came with the release of
"Never Mind The Bollocks", which is frequently listed as one of the most influential albums of all time. Their single
"God Save The Queen" was banned by the
BBC and reached No. 1 on the U.K.'s
NME chart, but appeared at No. 2 on the official U.K. singles chart, leading to accusations that the song was purposely kept off the top spot. For the only time in chart history, the track was listed as a blank, to avoid offence to the monarchy.
"Pistol" stars
Toby Wallace ("Babyteeth", "Acute Misfortune") as
Steve Jones,
Anson Boon ("Crawl", "1917", "Blackbird") as
John Lydon,
Louis Partridge ("Enola Holmes", "Medici") as
Sid Vicious,
Jacob Slater as
Paul Cook,
Fabien Frankel ("The Serpent", "NYPD Blue") as
Glen Matlock,
Dylan Llewellyn ("Derry Girls") as
Wally Nightingale,
Sydney Chandler ("Don't Worry Darling") as
Chrissie Hynde,
Emma Appleton ("The Witcher", "Traitors") as
Nancy Spungen, and
Maisie Williams ("Game Of Thrones") as punk icon
Jordan.