Lydon’s entourage ‘beat up’ singer

John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, punk icon and Sex Pistol, appears determined to grow old disgracefully. He has been accused of standing by while members of his ever-present entourage beat up a fellow musician, Kele Okereke, the lead singer and guitarist of Bloc Party, at the Summercase music festival in Barcelona at the weekend.

According to Okereke, 26, and a number of witnesses, including members of Kaiser Chiefs and Foals, the assault, which Okereke claims was inspired by "racist bigotry", was so severe that it left him with facial bruising, cuts to the face and body, and a split lip.

Okereke, a fan of Lydon’s since he was a teenager, said he went to ask him if he would ever consider reforming Public Image Ltd, the post-punk combo created after his first departure from the Sex Pistols in 1978. That was the spark that lit the tinder box. Lydon quickly became "intimidating and aggressive", according to Okereke, who added that Lydon’s entourage responded with a tirade of racist abuse including the statement: "Your problem is your black attitude."

Okereke was then allegedly set upon by three members of Lydon’s friends who reportedly punched and kicked him in the head before starting on the Kaiser Chiefs frontman, Ricky Wilson, and Yannis Philippakis, from Foals, when they tried to mediate. Says Okereke: "It’s not an issue of the physical assault, even though it was an unprovoked attack. It is the fact that race was brought into the matter so readily. I am disappointed that someone I held with such high regard [Lydon] turns out to be a bigot."

Lydon, 52, who claims the allegations are untrue, said that Okereke should "grow up and learn to be a true man. When you have achieved as much as I have, come back and talk to me."