Cynthia’s Girlfriends Tried to Warn Her About ‘Nutcase’ John Lennon but She Saw the Good in Him

Cynthia Powell (her maiden name before she married the Beatle) and John Lennon never had a breezy relationship. From the beginning, Lennon had erratic behavior, teasing his peers and causing trouble at college. Before John and Cynthia made things official, Cynthia’s friends tried to warn her that the musician was trouble. 

Cynthia’s girlfriends didn’t approve of John Lennon

Cynthia’s friends were familiar with John’s behavior at school, where he would make fun of both his teachers and peers. He was so distracting and mean-spirited that it wasn’t unusual for teachers to refuse him entrance into their classes. 

The book The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines describes the warnings Cynthia received from friends about dating John: “You must be out of your mind; he’s a nutcase; you’ll get nothing but trouble from that one; you’re really asking for it, aren’t you?”

Cynthia was even told that John’s ex, Thelma Pickles, was glad to be done with him because he frightened her so much.  

“But Cynthia said she saw beyond all that anger,” reads TLYM. “She saw into the hurt, helpless little boy underneath the rageful pose.”

Cynthia admitted John’s temper was ‘frightening’ 

According to the Beatle’s first wife, John would often go back and forth between rage and sweetness. 

“John’s temper could be frightening and at times I felt torn to pieces by him,” Cynthia wrote in her 2005 book titled John. “All sense of reason disappeared and his tantrums were awesome. He would batter away at me verbally until I gave in, overwhelmed by the force of his determination. Then he would be back to his usual self, apologetic and loving.”

One thing that was always sure to set John off was jealousy. But it wasn’t a two-way street. 

“He was irrationally jealous of any man Cynthia as much as looked at but wouldn’t think twice about flirting with another girl right in front of her,” reads TLYM. “Once, when he went so far as to kiss a girl in a pub, Cynthia burst into tears and stormed off.”

Cynthia on John hitting her

TLYM notes that John’s temper “often turned violent” and that Cynthia “got used to being belted around.”

In her book, Cynthia wrote about a time John became violent after she’d danced with a friend of hers named Stuart. John found out and followed his girlfriend into the restroom. 

“When I came out he was waiting, with a dark look on his face,” she wrote. “Before I could speak he raised his arm and hit me across the face, knocking my head into the pipes that ran down the wall behind me.”

After that incident, the couple didn’t speak for three months. Until John called Cynthia up. 

“He phoned me and asked me to go back to him,” she wrote. “It had taken him that long to pluck up the courage. He apologized for hitting me and said it would never happen again. I hesitated for a whole second before I said yes.”

In his 1980 interview with Playboy, as reported by Vice, Lennon admitted to hitting women (“any women”). 

“That is why I am always on about peace, you see,” he said. “It is the most violent people who go for love and peace.”

So were Cynthia’s friends correct in their concern? Absolutely. Still, it seems Cynthia knew what she was getting with John and proceeded anyway. At the time, she couldn’t fathom the heartbreak and pain that awaited her.

How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.