There was no reaction like this in England or Europe. We're crazy here in the US.

You have to hand it to Paul McCartney for trying to rescue his friend John from the onslaught.

You have to feel awful for Lennon, here - they really thought that his single comment would destroy the band in the U.S. at the time and that he'd ruined everything. And they absolutely lost a LOT of fans in the South of the U.S., as people were burning their albums in the streets. Thankfully the rest of the world didn't understand what the fuss was about and they eventually moved past it, but it's hard to understate just how crazy the reaction in the U.S. was at the time to his comment (which was totally misunderstood, as he says; he wasn't saying they were "better" or that it was a "good thing" they were "bigger than Jesus" - he was mainly talking about the fact that surveys at the time showed that Christianity was declining and that kids were more interested in rock and roll than going to church - there were literally articles about it in Time magazine at the time - that's what he was referencing - but some people thought he literally took it as a "brag" of some kind, when it was more like a statement of amazement that it was true - which it was). It's also important to understand the historical context, here - a lot of the PARENTS of teenagers at the time and middle-aged adults were scared to death of rock and roll and saw it as a great "corruption of youth" and that they were losing control of their kids - so for Lennon to make that statement (that again was literally just referencing a topic of discussion at the time), it basically fed into the worst fears of parents in the U.S., especially in the right-wing/religious South of the U.S., where they were burning the records and calling the Beatles "agents of Satan", etc. All of which was of course, ridiculous. But yeah, Lennon thought he had destroyed their success when the furor started - and before this press conference, witnesses said he was breaking down in tears in front of the other three and apologizing to them. But even though they moved past it, this was the end of the "innocent, mop toppy, fun Beatles" image they cultivated (which was always a fake image from the start; they were amphetamine pill-popping, hooker screwing, hard-drinking lunatics in Germany before Epstein put them in suits and they came up with the "polite" image they had when their first albums came out). This uproar actually ended up giving them permission to be the people they really were after this.

"Nasty had in fact only said that The Rutles were 'bigger than Rod'. Rod Stewart wouldn't be big for another eight years."

These lads were under so much pressure all around the world, and they handled it especially John handled it perfectly. The answers were clear and direct. It’s sad to see John struggling and stressing. Heard he cried to Brian about being so stressed about this whole mess and how he didn’t mean to cause harm to anyone.

For someone who was under all that pressure, he still looked great 👍

Ive read that John felt under so much pressure behind the scenes before the press conference, he burst into tears in front of his bandmates. My poor baby ❤❤❤❤

I always wanted to see this full press conference… good stuff I feel bad for John right here his backs against the wall.. in 2021 this isn’t big deal it’s crazy too see house straight laced America and Britain were in the 1960s… pot really made people relax lol

I forgive them 🙏🏿

I'm a Christian, and I dont know if you guys are aware, but John actually later in his life became a Christian after watching a Billy Graham sermon! I was not offended about what he said here, and I was also a skeptic towards God but just like Lennon, I got to know Him as a relationship and not a religion and things just eventually became fuller for me 😊 im a huge Beatles fan and I stand by the fact that The Beatles are a gift from God, to the world

I feel so so bad for them because they were so young here and the interviewers were literally asking them questions that were really tricks to get them to say things they didn't mean. And it hurts my heart because if you just see videos like this you can tell they are trying to put words in their mouths, and with the little information they did have, they would twist it, to make them sound horrible for a story. I hurt for john especially because people now say he was so terrible but I really feel like that wasn't what really happened with his wife and stuff because when you see things like this, you can tell they are fishing to get them to say something that they don't mean, and it breaks my heart. And I'm not saying he was an angel of course, and I know he had some drug issues and depression, and I don't doubt he had issues with his wife because obviously it ended for a reason, but he's not some terrible abusive person either. Honestly, he was a beautiful human being with normal human issues and if someone were to make him out to be anything less than that they would be horribly mistaken. We love you john💗💗

1:15 John said he was sorry, but in a tongue & cheek sort of way. He was like, "Hell yeah I'm sorry you guys can't handle the truth."

Lennon is my all time fave artist, not rocker I mean all time creative person in history here on earth. Mentions of Jesus, I couldn't care less about. The media exploited this nonsense ad nauseam.

This shows how close minded humanity is……John Lennon didn’t mean anything negative about religion, it’s just his way of speakin……and people need to shut up and quit takin shit out of context and look at all angles

They were so patient w the same questions, today's pop stars would have walked out..

When The Beatles got cancelled 😢.

What he said was true

I don’t think I’ve ever seen John so anxious. Poor guy. Even back when I was a Christian I always thought they wildly overreacted to his statement.

"Mocked for my theory of Christedom" Warm Gun reversed

Ironically, this statement today would be applauded by the media and fellow entertainers in the music industry ...

Looking at this now, I find them frank and open. Even as they're bombarded with repetitive and sometimes overly personal questions. Paul and George clearly support John.

John wasn’t wrong

These fatherless comments were a little concerning.

The irony was that Johns statement was actually on Gods side, to his mind he/Beatles in the natural order were beneath God whereas the world around him - a decreasingly religous world - were acting like that order was reversed, it was the insanity of that that he was pointing out, those offended and defending God missed his point completely

insane that that quote killed him in the end

The Beatles were tired at this point. Brian Epstein had them do a press conference at every stop they performed in. They got the same questions over and over. John in a private conversation said something to a reporter that he held in confidence. She blew up the story and the media ran away with it. I love the fact that Paul comes to John's defense. That was the great thing about the Beatles. They were a family and always stuck up for each other.

Lennons on the speed 😊

They explained the statement but they didn't backpedalled 👍

Anyone who has a open mind would know that when John Lennon said the Beatles are more popular than Jesus It is just a figure of speech. I understood what he meant because being a religious person I know that God created all things and is popular and famous more than any human being The Beatles are famous and popular because we fans buy and play their music

This is why he he was assasinated in 1980

It should be noted that John Lennon was trying to imply with his quote was that to the youth at that time, the Beatles were popular than going to church.

If this was said these times, he would've gotten away with it.

The other Beatles , Paul in particular, did a fine job in taking the heat off John. In retrospect, John was proved right. Just the Bible Belt lot that got their knickers in a twist.

Restored? its 360p..

Cancel Culture was created here.

What a big TO DO over nothing

It was a flippant remark which, even in the 60s, people took offence to and took it the wrong was.

That’s the least of it there very lives were in danger Can you imagine how the maga crowd today 1966 was a hell of a year politically and culturally civil rights the realisation that the Asian war was not going well and the Beatles on top of it all

This is embarrassing stuff of the mainstream American press

>More popular than Jesus >Gets killed

Today Lennon's comment about the decline of Christianity would make him a hero, but his misogyny and making fun of gays and the handicapped would get him cancelled

This is edited and spliced out of order

Ha Ha some "apology" Lennon

Where's the apologize, i need that

John Lennon was more important to me in my life and influenced me much more than Jesus or God did. You see I saw John, heard him speak, he was real. I've never met Jesus, only read books about him written by other men. And I don't even know what Jesus looked like. And another thing, Jesus is not even his name as the letter J wasn't created until the 1600s. He was a Hebrew and was bar mitzvahed. What do you think he was celebrating during the Last Supper? Passover. He was bar mitzvahed. He never gave up his religion. He was called Rabbi by his followers not Jesus. His real name was probably Yeshua bar Yosef. I don't even know how or when the 'Christ' thing started. I do know that the place Christians call hell is never mentioned in the Bible. Catholics came up with that hundreds of years later along with the idea of Saints. Christians can't even agree on their own religion. You have so many denominations. Some believe He is the son of God and others believe he IS GOD. Jews believe THEY are the chosen people. Muslims think Allah is God. And there are so many other religions. Here's how I see it. If there were truly a God, He would have made his wishes as easy to understand as 1 plus 1. 1 plus 1 in the U.S. is 2. 1 plus 1 in India is 2. 1 plus 1 all over the earth is 2. It's as simple as that. If there really was a God, he would have made his plan and wishes for his children as simple as 1 plus 1. This way the entire world would have been united as one from the very beginning. There never would have to have been the Holy Crusades, wars, death, destruction, and killing in His name. There never would have been the need for prophets or preachers or priests or for that matter Jesus or Moses or Mohammed. Just 1 plus I equals 2. If there was really a God.

5:40 Paul's annoyed, again at john. John loved to hear himself talk... blood hell...😅 He never lets people talk. I hate that. Paul was trying to cover John's arse and he couldn't lol..smh..i never liked john anyway. George was my favourite 👍🏻💯

Lennon, you know exactly what you were saying, and he knows exactly what he meant To bad your not around Grow Up

Worst apology ever. John seemed insincere and stressed.

No actually it’s not declining, but you did! And are no longer