John Lydon reportedly excluded from Sex Pistols series because he is ‘too difficult to work with’

‘He would just be a saboteur and he wouldn’t bring much to the table,’ said the band’s former muse

John Lydon had to rebuild his relationship with his parents after meningitis robbed him of his memory when he was seven (Getty Images)

John Lydon was reportedly snubbed from the new series about his band The Sex Pistols due to being “too difficult to work with”.

Filming began last month on Pistol, a six-part miniseries by Danny Boyle, which stars Toby Wallace, Anson Boon, Louis Partridge and Jacob Slater as the British punk band.

Jordan Mooney, a model and the band’s former “muse”, has claimed that the frontman – best known as Johnny Rotten – was not included in the show’s development because of his bad attitude.

Mooney told The Sun: “He would just be a saboteur and he wouldn’t bring much to the table. John argues for the sake of arguing. He’s a difficult person and I can’t say that part of him has changed at all.”

She added that the punk rocker has “only got more difficult” with age.

“He’s contrary,” said Mooney. “John has got a few issues about his importance in the world so him not being involved is the best thing that can happen.”

“John picks and chooses when he wants to be punk. If it suits him one day, he will be Johnny Rotten and otherwise, he is John Lydon,” added Mooney.

Lydon recently hit out at the forthcoming show, branding it “the most disrespectful s*** I’ve ever had to endure”.

(Getty)

The 65-year-old said: “I mean, they went to the point to hire an actor to play me but what’s the actor working on? Certainly not my character. It can’t go anywhere else [but court].”

He said that he was now seeking legal advice about taking the production team to court as he claimed that neither his consent nor participation was requested.

A spokesperson for Pistol told The Sunday Times that Boyle had contacted Lydon via his management company about the project, but that direct contact was declined.

Lydon will be portrayed in the show by Boon, who stars alongside Partridge as Sid Vicious. Derry Girls’ Dylan Llewelyn, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and The Queen’s Gambit’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster are also among the cast.

An official release date for Pistol is yet to be announced.