Would John Lennon be canceled today?

John Lennon remains to be an icon to millions, best remembered for his vocal and guitar co-lead in The Beatles and celebrated as one of the most influential songwriters in rock music. Lennon is also acclaimed for his humanitarian work and peace activism where he opposed the war and famously protested against the Vietnam war in 1969 when he and his wife, Yoko Ono staged a non-violent protest called “Bed-ins for Peace”.

Lennon's musical accomplishments and charitable humanitarian efforts are what contributed to him being the icon that he is remembered as, but it should be acknowledged that he wasn’t always 100% ‘peace and love’.

John and Yoko 1969 peaceful protest ‘Bed-Ins for Peace’ to protest against the Vietnam war. 

In the midst of ‘cancel culture’, it is interesting to place a figurehead of the 1960s and 70s in the current climate of the social media age. Users all over the world can take to their devices to virtually communicate and share information, which leads to important conversations being had.

The cancel culture phenomenon has seen many movements take place since it was culturally recognised in 2017 with its most prominent being the ‘me too’ movement which rightfully ostracised Harvey Weinstein. Other high-profile “cancelled” celebrities include J.K Rowling, Armie Hammer and R Kelly. By definition to be “cancelled” is to be boycotted by society. 

If we stripped Lennon away from his humanitarian image there was undeniably a man with a very controversial past, so here is a rundown that could well have put him on the internet's ever-growing list of “cancelled” A-Listers.

An unfaithful husband and negligent father

Lennon with his first wife Cynthia Powell and thier son Julian. 

John and his first wife Cynthia Powell had a son together in 1963, Julian Lennon but his relationship with both his wife and son were tumultuous, to say the least. Lennon was unfaithful during his marriage with Cynthia having many extramarital affairs, most famously he ended up marrying Yoko Ono after their affair together.

John's relationship with his son Julian was also complicated, he was neglectful and emotionally absent from Julian which worsened after John welcomed his second son, Sean, with wife Yoko when Julian was 12.

Lennon wrote the doting track “Beautiful Boy” for Sean in 1980, it would be on the last album he ever recorded, Double Fantasy. The lyrics are very simply representative of fatherhood; keeping their child safe and being there for them, something John refused to be for Julian. A song Julian however did have written for him wasn’t by his father but rather by John’s bandmate Paul McCartney with ‘Hey Jude’ which he initially called ‘Hey Juls’. Julian has admitted that Paul was more of a father figure to him than his own, wishing that his fathers ‘peace and love’ ethic made it back to him.

Julian reflected on the distant relationship with his father saying in the 1998 interview with Elizabeth Grice “How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces - no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it, not if you're being true and honest with yourself."

Abusive husband

Lennon’s problematic past is something even he couldn't ignore, openly admitting to having beat his wife Cynthia, going on recounting it in songs like “Getting Better '' from The Beatles 1967 album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band’ album. Lennon wrote the lyric “I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved. Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene”. If this was written today there is a high likelihood Lennon would find himself blacklisted for abusing his wife.

Playboy conducted an interview with John and Yoko which was untimely published only two days before he was assassinated. In the interview, he confessed

 “I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically - any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women” .

Lennon's self-awareness could be commended, however, was this just an attempt to un-tarnish his reputation as a symbol of peace and love?

Racist?

Another controversy Lennon (and Yoko) stirred up was through their professional work with their 1972 track ‘A Woman Is The N****r Of The World’. Despite the phrase being said by Yoko, John singing this as a white male certainty goes down poorly, even more so in 2023.

Racist comments from anyone, especially high-profile celebrities, will inevitably be called out on social media, considering the title and subject of this song sparked controversy in 1972 it’s not hard to imagine what it would be like in 2023. In defence of the song, its intention was to be made as a ballad against the unfair treatment of women, coming from Yoko’s experience facing misogyny within the male-dominated art world. John defended using the ‘N-word because he was using its definition to refer to anyone who is subjected to oppression.

Considering his indisputably problematic past, it is safe to assume that John Lennon in 2023 would come under a lot of heat for his offensive and controversial behaviour. However in today’s celebrity world: with an amazing PR team he could most likely sweep the dirt (arguably racist and abusive dirt) under the carpet just in time for the release of a new album.