“For £17, anyone can gawk at [the bag containing John’s bloodstained clothing] and Lennon’s glasses, at New York’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, alongside the Beatle’s old T-shirts and correspondence, in an exhibition titled John Lennon: The NYC Years. Last week, Ono told the Press conference held to launch the exhibition: ‘It was hard to include and I thought I might be criticised.’ She added that she felt it was 'important for people to understand what violence is about’. Ono has campaigned against gun violence for years, once saying: 'John, who was the king of the world and had everything any man could ever want, came back to me in a brown paper bag in the end. I want to show how many people have gone through similar tragedies.’ But not everyone is convinced that she has resorted to these shock tactics simply because she wishes to make a point. 'I believe her when she says she’s still coming to terms with Lennon’s death,’ says rock writer David Hepworth. 'But there’s grief and then there’s ghoulish exhibitionism. She defends the inclusion of the clothes in the exhibition on the grounds it’s important that people see the effects of gun violence– that’s balderdash. We know what gun violence does without having to see the 30-year-old evidence. 'Yoko Ono is a conceptual artist and, like all her breed, is addicted to attention. It’s important for her to get attention for anything she does in her own right– and so she reaches for the one thing guaranteed to get her media attention.’ Lennon’s long-time friend Bill Harry agrees, and feels upset for the Beatle’s surviving family, to whom he is close. 'When I heard about this, I thought: “Oh no! She’s at it again!” ’ says Mr Harry, who was at art college with Lennon and ran Merseybeat magazine, which had a close relationship with The Beatles. 'The world thinks John Lennon belongs to them, but Yoko thinks he belongs to her. 'She believes she owns the man and everything about him. She dictates how everything Lennon should be done, and no one can do a thing about it. 'The person in this position over Lennon’s legacy should protect their memory and reputation, not bring it into disrepute. 'Years ago, she sold replicas of the bloodstained glasses and shirt he was wearing when he was shot - the shirt for £16,000 and the glasses for £11,000. It was exploitation almost beyond belief.’ Some of her interventions show a talent for rewriting history that is breathtakingly brass-necked. In 2003, she consented to the release of the DVD Lennon Legend: The Very Best Of John Lennon. Yoko edited herself into the video for the classic song #9 Dream. But, in fact, the backing vocals on the hit were sung by Lennon’s then girlfriend, May Pang (he and Yoko had a 18-month break before they were reconciled and their son Sean was born). Ms Pang found herself airbrushed from history. She has authorised Lennon’s likeness on everything from coffee cups to sunscreen. There is even a watch featuring a picture of his buttocks. And she has broken a Beatles taboo by allowing his songs to be used commercially–most famously, when she gave permission for Nike to use The Beatles song Revolution to sell trainers. Sir Paul McCartney and the remaining Beatles sued Nike for $10 million. Nike stopped using the song. Ono immediately sold them the rights to use Lennon’s solo hit, Instant Karma, instead. Last year, she sold the use of Lennon’s ballad Real Love to the down-market chain store JCPenney as part of their Christmas advertising campaign. Ono again sold the Lennon brand last year, when she consented to a new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Imagine Whirled Peace, with peace signs made of fudge. Lennon’s signature was on the tub. Wouldn’t he have shuddered at the indignity? At the Dakota Building, where Ono has three apartments, one of the many bedrooms is filled with Lennon’s clothes on a revolving rail. She has talked more than once about 'seeing’ him and talking to him. If Lennon really does haunt that Gothic building, then a lot of his old friends wish he would have a word with Yoko– about the way she is choosing to remember him. As Bill Harry says: 'She wants her moment, and she wants to be at the centre of the picture. But the world just wants to remember and love John Lennon.’”
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