The "Anderson Cooper 360" interview with Yoko Ono, which you can see a segment from at left, is notable for some very heartfelt comments added to repeats of what Ono has said over the years about the relationship with her and John Lennon.
(You can read more of her comments on CNN's blog.)
Was it racism that ignited some of the negative response to her that still exists even today? It certainly can't be dismissed. Even Heather Mills, who managed to find a lower place in the hearts of Paul McCartney fans than Ono has with some Lennon fans, never was called some of the things Ono was.
The undeniable fact that shouldn't need to be said at this point is that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles. The Beatles broke up the Beatles. The myth that Yoko did it and that thought continues to even exist is beyond absurd.
And John and Yoko were close. Very close. They were a partnership that broke new boundaries because the two were equals. You can see it in the films and recordings they made and hear it as Yoko talks about John. We've interviewed her several times (two of which are linked below) and you can't help but not come away feeling that.
The next two parts of the Anderson Cooper interview will be very much worth watching.
Our first interview with Yoko Ono: http://www.abbeyrd.net/yoko.htm
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Comments
sorry, I completey disagree with Yoko. She was very close to John's bank book but she had lost physical interest in him after Sean was born and that's why they kept separate bedrooms.
Yoko is milking the "we were so close" story as the last nail in the coffin of her 30 year long campaign to convince the world that her relationship with John was very close when in fact John was getting ready to leave her but did all the couple interviews to help promote Double Fantasy and to help promote Yoko as an artist in her own right.
If you read the many books, Tony bramwell's Magical Mystery Tour, May Pang's Loving John and the out of print Fred Seaman's Last Days of John Lennon, they all don't paint a pretty picture of her.
She can do all the peace ceremonies in John's name, she's still got bad karma and bad vibes.
Susan,
a fan of John's who actually reads books!
Oh god, get me a sick bag. I'm just about ready to give up on this site. I don't even know what to say anymore. No, Yoko didn't break up the Beatles. But she was part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. She claims to be John's equal yet she sat in the studio, day after day, like a good little pet, knowing that she was in the way, that the other Beatles didn't want her there, that she knew NOTHING about their music, that she didn't even respect their music, and encouraged John to think it was unimportant. She was part of the problem, not part of the solution. What bothers me more than anything is that she refused to accept responsibility for her role in the breakup. She undermined John's love for his bandmates systematically.
And look what happened. Lennon's "equal" sapped his creativity. His solo work, in its entirely, pales in comparison to his Beatles work. ... And Yoko just sits back and plays the Professional Widow, collecting every dime she can generate.
Plus, if I have to hear one more time how John was Mr. Father of the Year. Paul was taking care of his babies, playing an equal parenting role with Linda years before John took an interest in Sean. Why don't you go on and on about the unique marriage that Linda and Paul had -- one that combines love, family, and work. Yoko and John weren't the only ones, they weren't even the first. And Linda actually WROTE songs with Paul; as Sean Lennon himself said recently "my mother and father never wrote songs together."
The only honest portrayal of the deep rifts in the Lennon/Ono marriage is in Peter Doggett's book, You Never Give Me Your Money. He's the only author that both praises Yoko and criticizes her for the negative role she's played over the years, particularly with Paul.
Thanks for your comments.
I agree with you. Yoko is trying to rewrite history you said a lot of my thoughts about Yoko, In the studio the in your face attitude she had and you never hear about the heroin John and Yoko were doing. she alianeted him from all the important people in his life Julian only visited John when he he was with May the same for Paul Yoko din't put calls thru to John from Paul and she tries to diminish the closeness they had maybe in 100 years from now people will believe her story but until lthen some of us or our children will be around to set the record straight
Actually, Julian visited John quite often in Tittenhurst in 1971, long before May Pang came along. There is film and picture fottage to prove this. May was not the only time John saw Julian.
"They were a partnership that broke new boundaries because the two were equals." And you wonder why people get carried away with the Lennon mythology when you write exaggerated sentences like that. I agree with the previous poster. Paul and Linda had a 50-50 partnership from the beginning of their marriage. Why don't you praise them as "breaking new boundaries"? There is so much BS that surrounds Yoko and John, it isn't funny.
Yoko is a fraud. Do I blame her for breaking up the Beatles - no. It was the end. She did have a major part in how they ended though. Whispering in John's ear and having her bed in the studio was a big issue and I give credit to the other three for putting up with it.
She was so close to John that she moved her boyfriend into his home a month after John was killed.
Linda was slammed unmercifully and yet she did make make herself out to be a victim - ever.
Yoko has done her darn best to put Paul down through the years. I almost could not believe it when she finally - after all these years admitted that Paul did indeed help to get her and John back together. This after mocking him and implying he was a liar only a few years ago ("If he wants to believe that, then fine") . She was nasty to John's family and most of all to Julian. John's sister has said that it was not until Paul spoke to her that she gave some things to Julian.
She is a fraud and I believe she herself promotes the "They are picking on me because I am Japanese". Not too long ago she replied to the question of did she ever think about moving out of the Dakota when John was killed with a "That's a racist question". Really??
People that have worked with her say she gives her approval for a project to go forward - then they get a phone call from her staff saying she now says no.
Sorry, but I don't her because I think she is an opportunist and attention seeker with no talent.
Thanks Steve, very well written I totally disagree with the comment written before me. My thinking is the John loved Yoko and who I'm I to come in between that...I'm a fan and no more...Love in this case is between two people and certainly not the public.
I think the Rolling Stone article written this past year explains the break up of the Beatles as clearly as anything I've ever read may I suggest these Yoko haters read it.
This crap about bank books in the other response is stupid what is she suppose to do hide under a rock keep all of John's songs and writing etc unseen in a vault, Yoko has done her best to see that the fans have been able to listen and see everything that John has left behind.
Perhaps these Yoko haters would feel better if some lawyer's had taken over the Lennon estate like what just happen when Michael Jackson passed on.
I thank Yoko for showing the care as only a loved one could do...I can only Imagine what it's like to have your loved one shot to death in front of you and to have people talk about you in such a selfish manner.
Steve, once again thats for another well written article on the the Beatles.
Peace & Love
RS
I don't hate Yoko. What I hate is the overblown "their relationship broke new boundaries" BS. Paul and Linda broke just as many barriers, and Paul didn't ignore or neglect any of his children in the process. ...
Plus, I'm just tired of this site being a shill for the Lennon Reissues. And Rock Singer, weren't you just on this site recently complaining about the reissues and what a grab for cash they were?
Ignore, for a minute, her so-called spin. Look back strictly at how John related to Yoko when he was alive. Their films, their art happenings and their music was proof of the partnership. Of course, what Yoko says now is going to seem like a public relations campaign. But the real deal is the way they were when John was alive and around to react. Yoko didn't hypnotize him in leaving Cynthia.
I just don't understand why you credit Yoko and John as this partnership exemplar, but you don't grant the same respect to Paul and Linda, who raised their children together, toured together, played music together, and loved each other as deeply as two people can. Why the double standard?
I don't think I've said anything to disparage Paul and Linda's partnership. How could I? They spent years together and raised kids as normally as they could under the circumstances of Paul's fame. I mean it's so obvious what they did that I wouldn't think it needed to be. So yes, give Paul and Linda credit for their partnership. John and Yoko's has come under such criticism and Paul and Linda's hasn't. Maybe that's the reason.
I personally feel that all this Lennon hype that we just experienced is hard for some people to swallow, Yoko was kind enough to release everything long ago and there's nothing else in there to release, so people feel that Yoko is exploiting John's legacy, not true what I think she is doing is giving people who don't have the CD's already a chance to listen to them in a new light and a higher sound quality..... Double Fantasy stripped is truly a new revelation of what John was trying to achieve before his death...
.I've personally have been married twice and just like John I knew it was time to move on.
How can anyone ignore the spin? That is saying it is ok to give her a free pass to say whatever she wants and not be questioned. McCartney does not get any slack at all even when he is telling the truth and he was an actual Beatle.
I was complaining that they didn't go far enough in the remastering process as I did with the Beatle remastering..Look if you don't already have these CD's it's a great place to start, but for people like me that have been there and done that..they didn't go far enough.
Peace & Love to you too Anonymous
Don't know if you can compare them because of the difference in sound, but have been listening to the Procol Harum remasters. They sound incredible. The Beatles and Lennon remasters don't have the same texture, certainly. (The PH discs were done by different people.)
Yes I've heard the Procol Harum remasters and agree also the remastered "Songs For Beginners" by Graham Nash that came out last year that cd blow me away.
What I can't wrap my head around is why Yoko still insists she did not know John was a Beatle when they first met. I know people who know Yoko who think this is an untruth...
Were John and Yoko really equals...I'm not so sure about that.
I don't think the stripped down version of DF shows anything. If John didn't want it to come out the way it did the first time he wouldn't have.
I feel the same and i dont trus tYoko
Yoko did not steal John from Cynthia. She did not break up the Beatles - John did cause issues by including her in his every move though. He did not have enough of a spine to leave on his own. Does anyone really think that any other band would have stood for one of the members bringing in their lover - and a bed? No they would not. That was insanity. The band was done, but he should have left Yoko at home until it was official.
I do not agree that Yoko has taken care of John's leagacy in a great way. She sells plastic watches for $100 and baby clothes. She let their image be used in a Vodka ad. Using his bloody glasses on an album cover ended it for me.
I agree with another poster - she has spent her time insulting McCartney. She has always considered him competition. Admitting he did help them get back together shows what a liar she has been. There were years when she would say anything to discredit McCartney. Now we find out he was telling the truth. Where are all the columns pointing that out? No one spoke up. Heaven help Paul, if he says the slightest thing someone finds wrong he is hung out to dry. No one is allowed to question the 'Widow Lennon' it seems. You would get accused of racism I suppose. She always falls back on that one and so do those that give her a free pass.
I do not like Yoko for rewriting history. They were not that close all the time. They were not together for 18 months. They travelled seperately. Did they love each other? Who can tell? The fact that Sam Havatoy was moved in within a very short time after John was murdered speaks volumes though.
It is great PR to say they were closer than they were.
If she told the truth I would like her a whole lot more.
I do not care if their marriage was perfect. I do care if she lies about it though.
DF stripped down is ok to release? Yet Paul wanting Let It Be Naked is an ego trip?
The Original Double Fantasy is the way John wanted it released. Let It Be was messed with and Paul had no say in it. John went behind Paul's back to do it.
Not too fair.
Yoko putting herself in videos and adding her name to song credits is not ok. She shows a lack of respect for John.
I have to admit I like LIBN more now than I did at its release. I guess the motives to release the album are what one could argue. There's probably some shaky arguments on either side. But both albums are good in their own right.
I remember Yoko's reply to someone asking her about Paul remarrying. She said it was easy for some people to move on, but not for her. She would never do that. But she could and did move her lover into John's home within a month of his murder. She did not mention that little tid bit. She also never mention the fact that he was paid $20 million when he moved out 20 years later. She was in a long term relationship that she never acknowleges. It does not fit her PR campaign.
Her denial of that is part of her fraud.
She really was the queen of passive-aggressive remarks when it came to Paul. It was beneath her -- like that silly moon/june remark she made about Paul's songwriting, as if Double Fantasy isn't filled with simple rhymes like that: "I was dreaming of the past; and my heart was beating fast." Yep, past/fast is sophisticated rhyming!
I am so glad she finally seems to have stopped making those remarks in recent years. It's about time.
Yoko continues to do a great deal to damage John's legacy. She is so determined to focus people's minds on one aspect of John's character that she actually denies him the public identity he deserves.
The more I read about Lennon, the greater an artist he becomes in my eyes.
How is she denying him his identity? She has been very free with releasing archival music. She has also expanded people's thinking of him as an artist.
I just think that she presents a very sanitised view of John, for example in the recent boxed set where she didn't release all of his albums, only those which are part of his increasingly 'official' canon.
I suppose I am mainly cross with her, and this is probably a bit silly, because of the recent remasters. I really think that perhaps she could have gone a little further with them, maybe made them all two disk sets with one disk of the main album, another with the early 2000's remix or perhaps a version of the album in sequential order using the demos, something like that.
It is just little things like that, or getting the game designers on rockband to change his stance so he looked more confident. Silly little things which annoy me a bit.
I suppose it is only natural that she focus on the John she knew but it's still a shame as the more she focuses attention on that John, the other John (of pre-1967/8) gets lost. Still, it is a positive things that she wants to talk more about his life than his death.
Each Beatle is very protective of their image. It's not just Yoko. I have to agree, though, that leaving the remixes and their bonus tracks, at the very least, out of the reissues was a mistake.
Steve, Just like your remastered Beatle CD story a while back, this story seems to have legs of it's own.
I can see that Yoko is a very polarizing subject to your readers and I'm really enjoying the different points of view expressed..BUT... WOW ..If she had another man move in after John's death it's nobody's business but her's, do they know that she was sleeping with him and if so how, and what gives some of your readers the right to stand in judgment of her like they are part of her personal family...sorry to say but your readers just like myself are nothing more than outsiders and I don't like to read gossip...even when I'm waiting in the dentist office.
I feel you're missing the point. People are not criticizing her for having a private life. They are criticizing her for lying about it, for pretending that her 20 year relationship with Havadtoy never happened and making passive-aggressive remarks about how "easily" Paul moved on from Linda and she never could.
Fact is: The nasty little remarks she's made about Paul over the years have, not surprisingly, forever earned her the enmity of Paul fans. She could have been a source of healing in the Beatle community, but she wasn't. She said a lot PUBLICLY to undermine his career. As I recall, only once did he criticize her publicly (he rarely does that to anyone). That was when he finally lost his temper (and rightfully so) after she publicly called him Salieri to Lennon's Mozart. I mean, come on. The woman went out of her way to be cruel to Paul. And the media NEVER called her on it. Just think how they would have crucified Paul if he'd made the same sorts of comments about her, while she sat quietly by and didn't comment. That's why she gets the reaction she does from some circles.
I do, however, give her credit for speaking more carefully and kindly about Paul in these last 5 years. And I would agree with whoever above said, It's about time.
Rock Singer I feel you are missing the point. I do not care if she moved on with her personal life after John. That is her business. To deny it and make a comment about Paul finding it easy to move on was really low. Really low and a lie. Journalists who went to interview her knew about her live in SH. She was even denying it to someone interviewing her until SH walked out of her bedroom while she was talking about how she could never 'move on'.
She has been absolutely insulting to McCartney through the years and there was really no need for it. Her being honest about Paul helping to get them back together just recently is too little too late. Personally I think people like her do not change (opportunist) so I am waiting to see why she is suddenly nice to him. After all these years she must have something up her sleeve.
I do not like her because she takes every opportunity to put herself in the limelight. She has whitewashed John and that was not needed. He is an interesting man and yes that is an understatement. I like John as John. I do not need Yoko's one demensional whitewashed version of him.
Sam H did an interview with HELLO magazine after they went their seperate ways. He said they were together for decades. Journalists who went to the Dakota saw him coming out of her bedroom even though she said she could never have anyone agfer John (the oh poor me syndrome). I also remember reading an interview with her that he participated in. It made the journalist uneasy at the time because SH was speaking about John's music, solo and with the Beatles, like he had something to do with it.
I also remember an interview in US magazine where Yoko said the pictures of her and John used in the Anothology book were awful "and of course the pictures of the others are lovely". She had 25% say in everything. If she did not like something she could have stopped it. I was annoyed the interviewer did not question her, but then it was a magazine owned by Jan Wenner who worships her and John.
She plays the victim for the public. She is a very dishonest person. I get the feeling she promotes John to promote herself. Why else would she take May Pang off of songs and videos and put herself in?
Olivia Harrison is classy.
John & Yoko were always free thinker sexually and I feel that the CHRISTIAN mentality of...you can just have one lover is slipping away with some of you.
Let's not forget that it was Yoko who set John up with May Pang and who knows who was ever invited into there bed room when they were together...How about the picture of John touching Andy Worhol crouch..make you wonder about John and Eppie's vacation.
And please remember that it was the 3 surviving Beatles that turned the Anthology series into Disneyland, watch that last episode and see them fudge over the truth about the break up that had John been alive he'd would have had none it...John always spoke the truth even if it hurt.
None of you ever sat in on any of the Apple Corps board meetings and don't know what Paul might had said to Yoko or did you forget Paul trying to change history...McCartney & Lennon song writing credits. To bad John wasn't here for that one, I could hear John saying "he must be daft".
I do agree with some of you as far as Yoko making some wrong choices that changed musical history..I guess she's just a jealous guy (girl). :)
Just remember all you Yoko haters, just because you read something somewhere you might think that it's the gospel truth...not always so.
This accusation about credits is ridiculous. On Please Please Me, the album, the credits all say McCartney/Lennon. Paul was talked into making the switch by John and Brian Epstein. But as a John fan, you don't view that as manipulation, do you?
Perhaps you ought to check your facts. Paul ALREADY reversed the credits ON HIS OWN songs while John was alive (on the Wings Over America album, I believe) and John DIDN'T CARE. And given that Yoko and John denied a writing credit to Frank Zappa, she has a lot of nerve making a stink about what Paul did. Also, Yoko tampered with Walls & Bridges in multiple ways, changing the original artist's intentions. Why aren't you on your high horse about that?
Also Yoko approved everything that went into the Beatles Anthology. She is one of the shareholders and could and did veto anything she didn't like.
And it doesn't matter what they said to each other PRIVATELY. We're talking about public statements. You keep ignoring what people are saying to suit your own purposes. Paul was no saint. No one is saying he was. But blaming him for everything is as bad -- and inaccurate -- as blaming Yoko.
Rock Singer - keep your thought process straight. If you say others can't possibly know what and how John would think then you can't make statements as to how he would think either. You have no idea what John would have thought of Anthology.
Calling people Yoko haters is something I would expect from a teenager on Twitter. Not liking what she does not mean there is hate involved.
Again, I really think you are missing the point. I don't care that John or Yoko had multiple partners or slept with goats every other weekend. That is and was their business. The part that bothers me is the story that John and Yoko were sooooo close and he was the love of her life (except when they were with other people of course). Yoko saying she can't ever be with anyone else at the same time as having a lover is deceitful. Even moreso when she makes a snarky comment about Paul.
Paul was not trying to change history. He just wanted his name first on songs that he wrote. As someone else mentioned - he did it on another CD and John said and did nothing. The credits started out as McCartney /Lennon - until John and Brian went away together. How was that fair to Paul? I suppose you think that is ok because John did it?
"just because you read something somewhere you might think that it's the gospel truth...not always so". -
can you give examples of what you think was not true? Just because Yoko and John said it does not make it true either. You seem to give them both free passes. Do you realy think Yoko is a sweetheart at Apple meetings? The people who dealt with her on Broadway and the National Trust did not think she was so sweet.
"...John always spoke the truth even if it hurt"
John's "truth" often changed from day to day, year to year and yes, depending on whom (coughyokocough) he was living with ...that much is undeniable and evident in the interviews.
I think that everything Yoko says has to be taken very carefully. She has no problem rewriting history and giving herself a more important part in John's history then she deserves. The way she has extricated May Pang's credits from the work she did on John's BEST albums is pathetic. Plus placing herself in videos of songs instead of May...NUMBER #9 DREAM...that is MAY PANG'S voice saying "John" not YOKO...be very careful with this one...She speaks with forked tongue!
May was never in any videos. There exists no footage of her at all. What Yoko did for #9 dream was insert old video footage from the Imgaine movie in 1971 where she and John are calling each others names to add visual to the sound. May was and still is credited with vocals and production on all the original album and remixes that were issued.
In the course of years ones relationship does change and I think that change happen when Sean was born. I know that my relationship has changed over the years with my loved one and I'm sure his did too.
I just think it was bad form for Paul to want to change the writing status after John was dead and not able to give his own take on the matter, leaving Yoko once again the heavy in this mess, it was agreed upon many years before and Paul knew that. Regardless of Wing over America, she had every reason to reject the change..John is dead and she is the keeper/protector of the Lennon estate.
I know Mr. Anonymous you think Ms. Ono should live her life as the sad widow and not find happiness and love, everything she does with another man should be on the cover of People Magazine right..your the one who sounds like a teenager and should be tweetering. Dumb thing for you to say about me as well as me to you... I was not interested in the mess created by Bill Clinton, my thought were, thats between him and his wife....PERIOD...same with Yoko, sorry just not interested...hey, I'm not even in the POB reunion or anything she does that doesn't involve John Lennon.
I think that no matter what Yoko does there will always be people that want to second guess her no matter if she's right or wrong and yes there were times I did not agree with her, but hey we all make mistake.
Peace & Love to you too Mr. Anonymous...Love U 2
RS
Again you miss the point. No one cares who Yoko sleeps with. We only are bothered by her false claims. ... And if John had lived, the whole credits fued wouldn't have happened at all. Because Paul would have called up John and said, "Can I put my name first on Yesterday?" That was all Paul wanted to do. John would have said, "Fine with me, what do I care?" And that would have been that. It's Yoko who refused to allow that Paul to do that on Yesterday -- a song John didn't even care about. Yoko was petty about that, and it turned into a bigger feud. Paul was foolish to pursue it further but I can understand his frustration.
Would of should of...Like I said John is dead..end of story.... I'll let you have the last words as I know you must.
Good Luck
RS
People forget she had an affair with David Cassidy while John was away those 18 months. Was she going to say she didn't know David C was famous too? He was hotter than Hades at the time...and curiously also in a very vulnerable place at the time too...
I think a lot of people would forget about this because I never heard that before. Where did you read that?
C'mon people, get your facts straight. it was David Spinooza Yoko was with not David Cassidy. David Cassidy was who John thought May was having an affair with and freaked out. This is in May's book Loving John.
anderson copper blackout?
how did you first meet? what a silly and repeated question.
would the next question be "how did you fell when john died? surely yoko's answer would not be"I feel happy"
John would have said?
John would have said?
John would have said?
what the hell do you all out there know about what John would have said?
are you god to know it?
Are you talking about Yoko? And her endless chatter lately about what John would have said about the internet or what John would have thought about the Iraq war? If she can speculate, so can we. At least we're not using John's name and image to enrich ourselves.
Because (as mentioned earlier) ithad happened before while John was alive and he had no problem with it
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