John Lennon Once Had 'Loud, Raucous Sex' with Another Woman at a Party — and Wife Yoko Ono Overheard (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Yoko Ono and John Lennon in New York City in the 1970s.Photo: Brenda Chase/Online

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York, NY in the 1970’s

A new book aboutJohn LennonandYoko Onogives an inside look at the marriage of one of rock and roll’s most intriguing couples.

The book recounts a story from 1972, when Lennon and Ono were guests at a party where the former Beatles singer got drunk while watching the presidential election results between Richard Nixon and George McGovern at anti-war activist Jerry Rubin’s Greenwich Village apartment.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980.Jack Mitchell/Getty

John Lennon and Yoko Ono photographed on November 2, 1980

Jack Mitchell/Getty

“Throughout it all,” Mintz writes inWe All Shine On, “Yoko sat on the sofa, in stunned, mortified silence, as other guests began awkwardly getting up to leave — until they realized that their coats were in the bedroom where John was having sex.”

Looking back, “He was placing [his wife] in the most embarrassing position that you could ever place a woman in — having a romp in the hay in another room with thin walls while your wife was attending a small party and could hear everything,” Mintz, 79, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Yoko is a very stoic woman, but it would have severe consequences.”

The next morning, Mintz got a call from a very hungover Lennon, who had to sleep on the sofa that night — and Ono, with whom he remains extremely close to this day, would later tell him even more.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono with their friend, author Elliot Mintz.Courtesy of Elliot Mintz

John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Elliot Mintz

Courtesy of Elliot Mintz

Mintz says that Ono told him, “I can forgive him, but I don’t know if I can ever forget what happened. I don’t know if it will ever be the same.”

“The reality is,” reflects Mintz, “as I would learn over the years in the bad behavior department, John would say to me, ‘Ellie,’ which is what he called me, ‘I’m not always the’Imagine' guy.’”

Lennon was murdered on Dec. 8, 1980.

We All Shine On by Elliot Mintz

Dutton

Nearly 44 years later, Mintz says, “Don’t get me wrong. Much of the time, he was the person that we related to, who wrote’Imagine' and expressed his vision of the kind of world where we would all like to live. But he didn’t always stay there. He was imperfect."

source: people.com