ROTTEN OR JUST MISUNDERSTOOD?
Yet trouble continues to follow him around. Over the last couple of years, Lydon or members of his entourage have been accused of assaulting Roxane Davis (an assistant on an American television show he was appearing on) and Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke; and of having a run-in with Duffy at an awards ceremony. “People are told that’s what there’ll be and therefore they believe it,” he says. “I’ve turned arrogance into an art form, where it’s so absurd that it becomes comedy. But I’ve never done anything to hurt anybody or steal from anyone.”
It’s strange how his tone swings so often between imperious disdain and wounded sincerity. A little later he adds: “I would like to be a good person.” Does he think he is? “Well, I’m going to work at it. You can always wake up on the wrong side of the bed and boo-hiss, everyone suffers. We can all be temperamental.”
Is being on his bad side a frightening experience? “It would be very hard to get there. You’d really have to work at it. I can’t carry on hatreds because they become almost amusing. I don’t actually hate Malcolm [McLaren]; it’s just fun to hate him. He’s just one of those people.” His voice softens into amused melancholy. “I think what we’re getting to here is so am I.”
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