Marky Ramone and John Lydon nearly come to blows at a punk panel talk

Earlier this week, John Lydon, otherwise known as Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten, caused quite a stir during a panel talk at the screening of upcoming docu-series, Punk

As Rolling Stone report, the panel included former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, Guns ‘N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, John Lydon, Punk producer John Varvatos, Marky Ramone, and L7’s Donita Sparks.

The conversation became heated when Lydon and Marky clashed over the meaning of punk.

“Punk music for me was positive, proof positive, that we could change our lives by music, meaning what we said. Attack the political systems. This daft cunt…” said Lydon, pointing at Ramone. “…is into fucking drugs!”

“You talked the talk but you didn’t do the walk,” countered Marky. “Just like The MC5.”

“Shut up! You tattooed twonk. Look at ya! You look like a heavy metal fucking reject!” stormed Lydon. “The MC5 were the harder band!”

“Sit the fuck down!” retorted Marky.

After Ramone claimed that Sid Vicious “was the star” of the pistols, Lydon replied: “He was the star for asshole fake idiots like you. Enjoy your drugs and fuckin’ have a happy death.”

“If it wasn’t for the fucking Ramones, you’d be nowhere!” shouted Marky. “You’d be doing fish and chips or something like that.”

“Listen, I love the Ramones,” concluded Lydon. “But I love Status Quo more.”

Later in the panel, Lydon was at loggerheads again with Marky Ramone, after reminding him that he wasn’t an original member.

“But I did the Blank Generation album with Richard Hell, and you took his image,” Ramone replied. “All you guys took Richard Hell’s image. That’s all you did.”

“And you’re still covering your fucking ears,” Lydon said.

Things then got heated between Lydon and Henry Rollins. “Henry, we ain’t never met before, have we?” Lydon said, as seen in a clip. “You’ve said silly things but excellently good things, too.”

“And you called Black Flag a bunch of suburban rich kids and we wanted to tear your ears off,” Rollins said.

“Yes, I did, but I didn’t like the fucking music,” Lydon said. “It was boring.”

Lydon then went on to mock Rollins’ singing style. “When the Sex Pistols came to you, you ain’t heard anything that good, and you know it. You could hear everything clearly, and those words put me in the houses of Parliament under the ‘Traitors and Treasons Act’, which at that time carried a death penalty. So, don’t talk Black Flag, Pink Flag, or White Flag.”

Punk, the four-part docuseries, is executive produced by Iggy Pop, and premieres via Epix 11th March.

Photo by Ian Gavan / Stringer