John Lennon and First Wife Cynthia Used to Laugh About How ‘Daft’ Yoko Ono Was

Before John Lennon fell in love with Yoko Ono (or perhaps in the midst of it), it was a private joke between him and his first wife Cynthia how eccentric and crazed the artist appeared to them. Here are some of the drastic measures Yoko took to gain John’s attention. 

Yoko Ono would show up at the Apple offices and Abbey Road recording studios demanding to see John Lennon

After Yoko and John first met at an art exhibit, the artist repeatedly tried to get in contact with the Beatle. Shortly after their meeting, John began supporting Yoko’s art financially. Cynthia worried this would encourage Yoko to ask for more, and it did (or, at least, that was part of the reason she continued to contact John).

One day, she showed up at the Apple offices and demanded to speak to John. When she was told that the Beatle was hardly ever at the office, she tried to sway the band’s road manager Neil Aspinall to get to the Beatle, according to The Love You Make by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. When Aspinall shrugged her off, she tried the same with Ringo Starr. But no luck there either. 

The security guards at the Abbey Road MI recording studios used to joke that Yoko was a part of the fence because she was there so often. She once threatened to chain herself to the gates in an effort to speak to John.  

Yoko Ono reportedly relentlessly called, sent letters to, and showed up at John Lennon’s home

As reported in TLYM, Yoko moved from John’s place of work to his residence at Kenwood. First, she repeatedly called him in an effort to get in touch. But he changed his phone number several times. Then, she sent letters demanding John support her art. 

According to Cynthia, the letters would say things like: “Can’t carry on. You’re my last hope. If you don’t support me, that’s it, I’ll kill myself.”

After the letters, the artist began showing up to the home in-person. She’d stand in the driveway waiting for John at all hours of the day. On one occasion, Cynthia’s mother let her inside for a glass of water. Yoko left her ring behind and demanded to be let inside the following day to retrieve it. 

One day, Yoko sent a package to the home. Cynthia opened it to find a broken china cup painted red. While John laughed it off, it concerned the Beatle’s first wife. 

Yoko got in the car with John and Cynthia after an event

One evening, John and Cynthia attended a lecture in London on Transcendental Meditation. After the lecture, Yoko followed the coupe to John’s psychedelic Rolls-Royce limousine and sat between them. According to TLYM, John and Cynthia exchanged embarrassed glances at Yoko’s expense throughout the ride until she was dropped off at her house.

“Maybe Yoko’s the one for you?” Cynthia asked John after the artist exited the car. She did seem to entertain him, after all.

“Her? She’s daft,” he replied. “She’s not the one for me. She’s amusing is all. I don’t fancy her.”