Bloc Party member, Kele Okereke, has claimed that he was severely beaten by John Lydon's (aka Johnny Rotten) entourage. Okereke claims that the attack was unprovoked and left him with a bloody lip and multiple bruises.
Lydon's response was, "I feel very sorry for a man that needs to lie about what was a perfect evening."
Okereke says that he approached Lydon at a festival the two were playing at and asked Lydon if he ever considered reforming Public Image Ltd. It was at this point, according to Okereke, that Lydon and his crew became aggressive. Okereke says that one of Lydon's crew members shouted, "your problem is your black attitude".
From there, Okereke claims that he was then attacked and repeatedly punched in the face and head. What we do know is that the fight actually happened and it was eventually broken up by festival security.
Several statements were released by John Lydon: After the show, John Rotten and management remained behind to sign autographs, which we did for four solid hours without incident and had a great time talking to other Spanish bands. This seems to have sparked jealousy in certain bands. The trouble was brought to us, resulting in those causing the trouble being physically removed by festival security. It's a shame that the wonderful world of the media is riddled with nonsense like this Grow up and learn to be a true man."
