Paul McCartney and John Lennon were on decidedly bad terms after The Beatles broke up. McCartney sued his bandmates to take control of their catalog from their manager, Allen Klein. The other three Beatles resented him for this, and their interactions following the split were chilly.
After a phone argument with Lennon, McCartney made a mistake that only made things worse. Paul McCartney made an uncomfortable mistake after a fight with John Lennon As the former members of The Beatles worked their way through the lawsuit, Lennon made it clear to them that he wanted indemnity. He reportedly had over $1 million in personal debts and wanted protection.
McCartney spoke to his lawyer, John Eastman, then called Lennon to tell him he could have indemnity. The conversation began friendly enough, but when McCartney began to talk about business, Lennon’s mood soured. “John said, ‘F***ing indemnity.
F***ing this, f***ing that. You don’t need to give me f***ing indemnity, you f***ing —’ I think we ended up just sort of swearing at each other,’” McCartney recalled in the book All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Steven Gaines and Peter Brown. “I said, ‘F*** you, ya big c***,’ ’cause I just couldn’t handle it.
I couldn’t be sweet and reasonable anymore.” After ending the conversation, a furious McCartney tried to call Eastman. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the John he reached.
“Of course, I got the phone numbers wrong,” he recalled. “I ra.
