A John Lennon housekeeper claim has gone viral. The information is not really new, but is juicy enough to grab headlines in some circles.
A letter from John Lennon‘s housekeeper/nanny, Dorothy Jarlett, paints a very unflattering portrait of the legendary music star. Jarlett, who worked as a housekeeper/nanny for Lennon’s family for four years, made the allegations in 1968 at the height of a bitter divorce between the former Beatle and his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. The housekeeper’s letter was part of a document package put together by Cynthia’s lawyers in the divorce proceedings.
Dorothy Jarlett died last year and the explosive letter is now being auctioned. According to New York Daily News, it could be worth close to $10,000 on March 24 at the Omega Auctions in Warrington, Cheshire. John Lennon’s housekeeper letter states that he was almost abusive to his son, Julian Lennon, he did quite a bit of drugs and cheated on his then-wife with Yoko Ono.
Jarlett describes in great details some of the key moments that lead to the couple’s divorce. On the family’s initial state, she wrote:
“Until about the summer 1967 I thought the house was reasonably happy. I do remember some differences of opinion between Mr and Mrs Lennon but nothing out of the ordinary.”
From there on, the relationship started going down south. The nanny explained:
“From about a year ago Mr Lennon did not seem as keen as before to take Mrs Lennon out with him to various functions, studio recordings etc., to which he had previously taken Mrs Lennon. I quite often heard Mrs Lennon ask whether she could accompany him, but he had refused, making excuses for not taking her. He would only take her, if they had been invited out together. The atmosphere seemed to change and there seemed more tension. As a result Mrs Lennon was often depressed and unhappy.”
The “(Just Like) Starting Over” singer’s increasing drug use is also addressed in the housekeeper’s letter. She claimed:
“This was some months after the time Mr Lennon started taking drugs, I knew of this, because I began noticing drugs lying around in various parts of the house. It was quite clear to me that Mr Lennon was smoking pot, and we all hoped that it was a phase and that he would get over it. I have seen pot around the house since then.”
John and Cynthia used to argue over the way their son Julian was being raised, the disagreement was a source of extra tension. The critically-acclaimed artist found that Cynthia was too soft with their son.
Jarlett revealed:
“When Mr Lennon was at home there were often rows during meals when John seemed to be too severe with Julian and criticized the way he behaved at table. Julian, who was a very sensitive child at the time would become upset and Mrs Lennon would argue with Mr Lennon about this. As a result there would be an argument about the way Julian was being brought up. Mr Lennon would say Mrs Lennon was too soft with him. I think that he was probably not enough with his son at my house owing to his profession to know how to handle him. Julian’s table manners were if anything better than average. As a result he would often smack him.”
John Lennon’s housekeeper letter also shared that she once walked in on the Beatle and Ono while they were in bed. Those revelations may be surprising to some people, but most fans insist that Lennon admitted to doing those things in his music when he was alive, so there is nothing really new here. The supporters added that Lennon was a great artist, but like many individuals of his caliber, he was also a very flawed human being.
The John Lennon housekeeper letter may paint a dark portrait of the artist, but devoted fans are not yet ready to give up on one of the greatest musical talents that the world has ever known. What are your thoughts on this letter?
Why bring this up now!! For crying out loud, this is History we didn’t need to hear. This is news we didn’t need to hear. And the Son has to deal with it and relive it and I am sure he does not like it. I know I wouldn’t. The media really sucks!! Get a job that doesn’t hurt people
NO SH8T!!!!LIKE WE DIDINT KNOW,WTF DID SHE DO? WHEN YOU POINT THE FINGER 3 FINGERS POINT BACK AT YOU ,HOW MUCH MONEY DID SHE GET TO BE A RAT FINK MY LOVE FOR HIM S UNCONDITIONAL! SCREW YOU LADY!
Your love for him is unconditional. Wow you are sick. Get a life. Loving someone you didn’t even know.
It is irresponsible to publish this without at least sharing what is often too common in divorce proceedings and filed documentation for character testimonies. In general, whichever spouse submits a character testimony in a divorce proceeding is usually going to find someone to say negative things about the other person.
In fact, most of the claims in letters submitted to the court go uninvestigated. Keep in mind, as soon as lawyers enter the picture, each spouse is no longer dealing with the person they are divorcing or being divorced by.
Please read about divorce and letters aimed at people’s character.
lennon has achieved cult status among so many thoughtless and gullible fools…he was a preachy hypocrite…so i’m glad for any information that illuminates this fact…and please don’t start with moral equivalency…EVERYBODY has faults…but not everybody makes it a point to tell others how to live…and not everybody is lionized…
Thank you! I agree. He was a total hypocrite. People can like his music all they want but to idolize him as some sort of peace, love, and harmony guy is a joke.
Jesus was a con man.
John Lennon Abandoned his wife and son. This continued until his death, with his son Sean getting everything and Julian getting nothing. How you care for your children is the ultimate measure of what kind of man you really are.
Yes. He was just a typical spoiled super star who only cares about himself.
Sad to acknowledge, but it’s well documented that he abandoned Julian. He was a total phony. The most “real” Beatle? George, hands down. He lived it.
The last sentance states that he “Is the greatest musical talent the world has ever seen.” Ha ha what a joke. He was a very popular pop singer thats all! Wow moron confuses popular chatchy tunes with genius.
Apparently you are not a musician or a poet. Songs like imagine, Norwegian wood, a day in the life to mention but a few are not “catchy songs.” They are musically intelligent and lyrically brilliant.
I also guess you have never been a divorced millionaire. With lawyers looking for anyone that didn’t like him to conduct a smear campaign it is no surprise they found one in a poor housekeeper with plenty to gain financially for her “letter”.
I am sure Mr. Lennon was not a saint. He was a world famous pop star of unrivaled proportions in his early 20’s. The excess of youth and rapid rise to fame and fortune have ensnared a majority of pop icons.
Decades ahead of his time he wrote of finding new love while remembering the loves of the past in songs like “in my life”. He fell in love with a woman of another race for what he saw on her insides at a time when that rarely happened. He criticized the violence of the sixties counter culture and extolled their virtues which ended the Viet Nam war in the song “revolution”. His Christmas song “war is over” speaks to the hypocrisy of giving gifts in the name of Christianity while not caring about the suffering that is caused by the endless pursuit of power via war.
Funny that the “abused” Julian never came forward with stories of abuse. As his wife had custody of Julian after the divorce many men have fallen victim to the sin of not being enough in the life of a child under that circumstance. He was criticized publically 45 years ago by fellow Beatle Paul in the song “Hey Jude”, more OLD NEWS.
“But of all these friends and lovers
there is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more”
you have your mind really closed.
Sad. Very disappointing. That was child abuse.
One has to separate the music talent from the person. Drugs, music, and wealth tend to create these types of personalities. I feel bad for Julian because he has to live with his memories of an abusive father who left him and his mother practically penniless while Yoko and her son live at the Dakota. How difficult it must be for him to constantly hear how wonderful his father was and how Yoko, to this day keeps that memory alive. I liked his music and appreciated his talent, but as a human being, I chose not to say.
agree, 100%. Treated first son badly. For no good reason, just shows you what a truly disconnected human this so called idol really was
And who gets the money for this letter?
I never liked Lennon, and always felt that his persona of ‘peace and love’ was b.s. Anyone who treats their child and wife so poorly is not a very nice human being.
Garbage news for a garbage culture. Useless character assassination. Why not do a story that Santa had gay elf lovers or Benjamin Franklin slept with slaves or Bruce Springsteen ran over a dog. Every artist and everyone has demons. This story and negative comments are hypocrisy.
Listen to Number 9 Dream, shut up and find a higher purpose.