John Lennon Admitted to Hitting Women in an Interview Right Before He Died

The name John Lennon often goes hand-in-hand with “peace and love.” But the Beatle had a violent streak. His first wife, Cynthia Lennon, opened up about his physical abuse and the musician admitted that he was “a hitter” during an interview that took place just two days before his death.  

John Lennon admitted he was ‘a hitter’

In the Playboy interview, the interviewer asked John about the Beatles song “Getting Better.”

“It is a diary form of writing,” he responded. “All that ‘I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved’ was me. 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 went on to say that his violent past was part of the reason he was so passionate “about peace” in recent years.  

“It is the most violent people who go for love and peace,” he said. “Everything’s the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster.”

Cynthia Lennon on John Lennon’s ‘violent’ temper

In Cynthia’s 2005 book titled John, she wrote about a time John was violent with her. One night when they were still dating, she went dancing and danced with her friend Stuart. John found out and followed her 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, Cynthia and John didn’t speak for three months. They’d run into each other sometimes because their friends overlapped, but even still they wouldn’t converse. However, John eventually called Cynthia up and they got back together. 

“After three months, he phoned me and asked me to go back to him,” she said. “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.”

John Lennon allegedly hit his son Julian as punishment

In a letter that was written over 55 years ago by Dorothy Jarlett, John’s housekeeper, it was alleged that John would hit his and Cynthia’s son Julian when he behaved badly, according to The Times.

“There were often rows during meals when John seemed to be too severe with Julian and criticised the way he behaved at table,” Jarlett wrote.

“Julian, who was a very sensitive child, would become upset and Mrs Lennon would argue with Mr Lennon about this,” she continued. “As a result there would be an argument about the way Julian was being brought up.”

Jarlett went on to say that John would say Cynthia was “too soft” with Julian. 

The arguments always surprised Jarlett because, to her, it seemed as though “Julian’s table manners were, if anything, better than average.”

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