John Lydon has branded the outcome of his lost court battle against his Sex Pistols bandmates as "destructive" and "disingenuous".
The punk band's former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones were locked in a High Court battle with Lydon - who performed in the group under the name Johnny Rotten - to be allowed to use their songs in TV drama 'Pistol', which is being directed by Danny Boyle and made by Disney.
Lydon, 65, had claimed that they could not use the tracks without his consent, however, Cook and Jones argued that an agreement formed in 1998 - a band member agreement (BMA) - means that a majority basis settles any decisions regarding licensing of The Sex Pistols music.
In a ruling last week, Sir Anthony Mann said the pair were entitled to invoke majority voting rules against the singer in relation to the use of Sex Pistols material in the series, under the terms of that band member agreement.
Lydon had appeared in court on July 21, and argued that the BMA had "never been applied in anything we have ever done since 1998", while also branding the Disney mini-series as "the most disrespectful s*** I've ever had to endure".
He added: "I don’t understand how Steve and Paul think they have the right to insist that I do something that I so morally heart and soul disagree with without any involvement."
However, Edmund Cullen QC - representing Cook and Jones - accused Lydon of giving "false evidence" which prompted him to retort: "False evidence? I'm sorry, how? Where?"
Cullen also told the court during the week-long hearing that Glen Matlock - an original member of the band - supported their position and backed the series and that written submission from the late Sid Vicious' estate were also in support of Cook and Jones.
And now, Lydon has hit back at the court's decision and insisted he finds it "dumbfounding" that the six-part series was allowed to be revealed to the world without him being consulted, given he is the frontman and "image" of the 'God Save the Queen' group.
A statement posted to his website read: “For more than 23 years the Sex Pistols have operated on the basis of unanimous decision making. The Disney production is the first time that the unanimous approach has been ignored.
“It is disappointing that a High Court judge has decided that John Lydon is bound by an undated agreement signed in 1998, which imposes on the Sex Pistols a majority rule arrangement in place of the unanimous decision making process that has been followed for 23 years.
“Looking forward, there is great uncertainty about what the majority rule approach might do to water down and distort the true history and legacy of the Sex Pistols. Time will tell.”
Lydon commented: “I am the lead singer and songwriter, frontman, image, the lot, you name it. I put it there. How is that not relevant? It is dumbfounding to me. It is so destructive to what the band is and so I fear that the whole project might be extremely negative.
“How can anyone think that this can proceed without consulting me and deal with my personal life in this, and my issues in this, without any meaningful contact with me before the project is announced to the world. I don’t think there are even words that I can put forward to explain quite how disingenuous this is.”
Lydon wrapped his lengthy response by quoting the band's song 'The Order of Death'.
He wrote: “This is what you want, this is what you get.”
