For most fans of John Lennon — you know, the guy who famously sang, “Imagine no possessions/ I wonder if you can/ No need for greed or hunger/ A brotherhood of man” — the rumor making the rounds this week that the Beatle was a closet Republican wasn’t exactly a welcome revelation. The report originated with Lennon’s last personal assistant, Fred Seaman, who said in an interview shot for a forthcoming Beatles documentary that “John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.”
Now, Lennon’s publicist and longtime friend Elliot Mintz has come forward to say that’s all nonsense. “From the time I met John in 1971, until the end, all of those things he expressed in ‘Imagine’ were part of his belief system until the last breath of his life,” Mintz told TMZ, explaining that Lennon was consistent in his ideals until the time of his death and adding that “Fred Seaman has a distorted revisionist view of history.” Zing!