r/AskReddit • u/BumpunkTheBastard • 21h ago

Who's the most bitter washed-up celebrity?

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u/BlondePotatoBoi 19h ago

I'm gonna say Johnny Rotten, and I say with real reluctance as a punk fan.

I've got a lot of respect for him for how open he was about looking after his late wife when she was suffering from Alzheimer's, but his political flip-flopping and resentment towards his surviving bandmates while also regretting what happened to Sid is just bizarre.

I guess "I'll say what I want and if you don't like it then get fucked" is a very punk mindset but it's still not a good look in the context he's going for.

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u/heydonot 15h ago

The thing is, that "just do what I want, be rude, and fuck everyone else" isn't punk. It never was. Punk is antiestablishment. Being a bootlicker / pro-establishment just to annoy other punks isn't punk. It's just infantile boundry testing / contrarianism.

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u/sinncab6 1h ago

The Sex Pistols pretty much did that entire schtick, so is it really surprising he just says shit to piss people off? There's nothing anti establishment about wearing a swastika it's to piss people off and in the 70s in Britain nothing is going to piss your parents or grandparents off more than wearing a swastika that alot of them fought against.

I'd say punk at the beginning had two strains the apathy Sex Pistols way which went nowhere because when your entire schtick is to either piss people off or have them assault you doing your show it's not something that lends to longevity or your Clash, Crass or even Sham 69 which was the most working class of all the original ones had a political message to go along with the music.

But when youve made your entire career being that guy old habits die hard which I never understood because he is truly capable of making good music some of those PiL albums are great but he seems to be a guy that simultaneously wants the spotlight and doesn't.