Nov 24, 1997: John Lydon Sued on ‘Judge Judy’

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There are some moments in modern pop culture that are just so wonderfully bizarre. This was one of them.

Who knows what drummer Robert Williams was even thinking when he took his case for breach of contract as well as assault and battery against former Sex Pistol John Lydon pka Johnny Rotten. He hired Williams (and paid him) to play on a tour. Williams claims Lydon fired him without cause and headbutted him. Lydon countered that Williams refused to share a hotel room on the tour, which he, the star, was even doing.

Was he fired or did he quit? Oldest story in the book.

John Lydon, being the media manipulator that he is, can’t resist making the most of the moment but Judge Judy keeps him in line, and at one juncture shushing him and saying, “Sir. Don’t be disrespectful. I haven’t disrespected you, have I?”

“No, you haven’t” Lydon answers.

“So let’s not be disrespectful in my home,” the judge says.

Williams loses and is not awarded the $5,000 he claimed to be owed. “This is a very strange business you are in,” Judge Judy tells him. “You should probably find another business.”

Watch John Lydon on Judge Judy

“Fairly obvious conclusion,” a smug Lydon says.

PiL has announced a tour of the U.K. and Ireland for summer 2025. The 23-date tour, billed as “This Is Not The Last Tour,” includes several festival appearances. Lydon thought the band might not tour again. His lifelong friend and manager, John Rambo Stevens, passed away suddenly following the last PiL tour, in December 2023, soon after the death of Lydon’s wife, Nora, in April of that year.

“People were so overwhelmingly positive, and they asked me to tour PiL again,” he said. “With so many people asking and with the band meaning so much to them, I couldn’t just stay on my sofa and not tour – tempting though that obviously is.” Tickets are available at the band’s website.