There’s a part of me that sometimes feels bad for Johnny Rotten. I try to assume he must have some kind of mental illness that’s gone undiagnosed for all these years, that one day he’ll be convinced by caring friends and kin to get the help he needs, that he must be some kind of Michael Jackson man-child who has retreated to a shell of blissful oblivion in the mind of an adolescent. Right? No normal human being can consciously be such a living joke.
Then every so often a story like this comes out, which is accentuated by this, and I remember: he’s just a crude asshole.
So what happened? Apparently, during Barcelona’s Summercase Festival this past weekend, Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke tried to talk to Rotten (who still thinks himself relevant to modern music for some reason) about Public Image Ltd. but was instead greeted with racial slurs and a beating from Rotten's associates. Okereke says members of Foals and Kaiser Chiefs came to his aid and were also treated with violence.
Rotten says the account is untrue. According to him, the “trouble” was instigated by Okereke, who needs to “grow up and learn to be a true man.”
However, Foals’ tour manager Nick Jenkin's account seems to give credibility to the original allegations. He claims he saw Okereke getting punched by Rotten’s entourage, as Kaiser Chief’s Ricky Wilson was taunted for trying to help. Foals’ singer Yannis Philippakis was knocked unconscious by security and handcuffed as he tried to intervene, Jenkin said. Meanwhile Walter Gervers, bassist of Foals, was given a black eye and guitarist Jimmy Smith was thrown through a barrier.
Okereke has filed a report with police.
Sex Pistols action figures, hand bags, and air fresheners available now!
