John Lennon’s Rude Nightclub Behavior Sparked a Hilarious Comment From His Server
In the early 1970s, John Lennon wreaked havoc at one Los Angeles nightclub. He was kicked out on one occasion, but his behavior during other visits wasn’t exactly polite. Lennon and his friends would drink heavily and stay out for hours. One night, Lennon’s behavior went a step too far for his server. When he asked if she knew who he was, she snapped back at him.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono separated for 18 months
In 1973, Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono separated. Lennon moved out and began a relationship with the couple’s assistant, May Pang. He referred to this period in his life as the “lost weekend,” but, in reality, it lasted roughly 18 months.
“The affair was not something that was hurtful to me,” Ono told The Telegraph in 2012. “I needed a rest. I needed space. Can you imagine every day of getting this vibration from people of hate? You want to get out of that. I started to notice that he became a little restless on top of that, so I thought it’s better to give him a rest and me a rest. May Pang was a very intelligent, attractive woman and extremely efficient. I thought they’d be OK.”
Lennon began drinking heavily and using drugs during this period, which would get him into trouble.
John Lennon’s server was brutally honest with him at a nightclub
When in LA, Lennon and his friends frequented The Troubadour, a popular nightclub. One night, Lennon, Pang, and a friend went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. During the meal, Lennon was drinking and decided it was a good idea to attach a sanitary pad to his forehead.
“He returned from the bathroom with a Kotex on his forehead,” Pang said in the book Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane (via Today). “I pleaded with him to take it off. He just smiled.”
After dinner, the group headed to The Troubadour. Lennon, still sporting his unique headpiece, continued to drink. At some point, Lennon unceremoniously asked his server, “Don’t you know who I am?”
The server responded sharply but hilariously: “Yeah, you’re some a**hole with a Kotex on his forehead.”
John Lennon returned to the same nightclub several weeks later
The moment was a bit embarrassing, but nothing compared to Lennon’s behavior at The Troubadour several weeks later. Lennon and the musician Harry Nilsson went to the club to see the Smothers Brothers. After a few drinks, Lennon began heckling the comedy duo.
“We started yelling at Tommy and his brother,” Lennon told Kane. “I think we almost screwed up the act. A few weeks before I was in the same place, I found a tampon machine or something in a restaurant, wore one on my head. Heckled some more. And I don’t remember how it happened, but they threw my a** out.”
Lennon felt humiliated after the incident and apologized to the comedians. According to Kane, the moment made Lennon reconsider his behavior.
