Which famous person in history who is idolized, was actually a horrible person?

[justseyi]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: John Lennon.

As a lifelong Beatles fan, it’s not easy to admit this, but the truth deserves to be told. John Lennon was a brilliant songwriter and cultural icon, but behind the music and the message of “peace and love,” he often behaved in ways that were deeply harmful to those closest to him.

Before marrying his first wife, Cynthia, John once slapped her so hard that her head hit the wall—because she had been dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe. Only three months later, after apologizing, they reconciled. Yet the violence did not stop. An employee of theirs even witnessed him hitting her again and warned Cynthia to leave him.

During their marriage, Cynthia endured domestic violence. When their son Julian was born, John didn’t visit him until three days after the birth, and almost immediately left on vacation to Barcelona with Brian Epstein. He openly referred to Julian as “a Saturday night special” and said he “came from a bottle of whiskey.” John admitted to having multiple affairs during their marriage, further wounding his family.

Julian himself reflected on his father with painful honesty:

“I never wanted to know the truth about what my father was like. He said a lot of negative things about me… like when he said I came from a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night. Things like that. It makes you wonder—where is the love in that? Paul and I used to spend more time together than my father spent with me. We had a great friendship, and there are more pictures of us playing together than there are of me with my dad.”

The relationship between John and Julian remained strained until the end. Julian inherited very little after his father’s death—only a trust fund worth £100,000, shared with his half-brother Sean. To have keepsakes of his father, Julian was forced to buy Lennon’s belongings at auction.

And while John Lennon preached peace and love, he often failed to live it out. Beyond his family life, he also mocked people with disabilities, finding humor in their suffering.

In short, John Lennon was both a genius artist and a deeply flawed man. His music changed the world, but in his personal life, he mistreated his wife, neglected his son, and failed to embody the ideals he so passionately sang about.

[Author]

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