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Jack Douglas Says John Lennon Threatened Woman With Knife at Early-’70s Activist Party

The recollection surfaced in a recent podcast interview, with no independent corroboration.

Overview

  • Douglas recounted the scene on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others, saying Lennon reacted to activists shouting “off the pigs.”
  • He said Lennon, growing drunk and irritated, grabbed a kitchen knife and advanced toward the woman while saying, “You want violence? I’ll show you violence!”
  • The party was tied to Abbie Hoffman’s circle, which Douglas says Lennon viewed warily and described as “nutcases.”
  • People and Ultimate Classic Rock reported the anecdote on Dec. 3, placing it in Lennon and Yoko Ono’s early-1970s New York activist period that drew FBI surveillance.
  • Douglas is a longtime Lennon collaborator who has previously discussed working with him on the day he was killed in 1980.