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?
