Cliff Notes – Inside ‘feud’ between John Lennon’s sons as Sean Ono speaks out
- Sean Ono Lennon has publicly dismissed rumours of a feud with his half-brother Julian Lennon, emphasising their strong relationship and urging fans to respect their bond.
- The speculation arose amid the release of a new film about their father, John Lennon, which reignited interest in the family dynamics and past tensions.
- Both brothers have expressed their deep affection for one another, with Julian referring to Sean as his “best mate” and highlighting their close connection over the years.
Inside ‘feud’ between John Lennon’s sons as Sean Ono speaks out
Sean Ono Lennon has spoken out about his ‘feud’ with his half-brother Julian Lennon, following years of reported bad blood.
John Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono are the subject of a new film titled One to One: John and Yoko, that focuses on the couple’s controversial relationship in a brief moment in the 1970s.
The couple’s son Sean was involved in the project and oversaw audio mastering for the concert footage.
The film has reignited interest in the couple and their family, and has led to speculation about a feud between Lennon’s two children.
Sean, 49, has now shared a post to encourage fans to respect the fact that there is no feud and that they have a good relationship.
‘Here, we do not accept comparisons and erroneous creations of fights about two people that John Lennon loved the most: his children,’ read a post from a Lennon fan account, which Sean reposted to his Instagram Stories.
He also added: ‘Peace and much love.’
The text was written on top of an image of Sean and Julian, 62, Lennon’s son with his first wife Cynthia Powell, at the 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, when they inducted Elvis Presley.
In the image, Sean would have been around 11, while his half-brother would have been around 23.
The relationship between the brothers has been a point of speculation from Beatles fans online for several months.
Some have highlighted Julian’s comments about his step-mother Ono, as evidence of tensions, with claims he had to buy back letters he had written to his father because she refused to give them to him.
In 1996, he sued his father’s estate and revealed in 1999 on The Dini Petty Show that he used some of that money to buy some of the other items that once belonged to his father.
However, in the same interview, any negative feelings towards his stepmother were separate from his half-brother. Julian explained he only had warm feelings towards his little brother, who was caught in the middle of a difficult situation.
Other TikTok sleuths speculated that Julian had been abandoned by his father after Lennon wrote the song Beautiful Boy about his younger son Sean and not his elder son.
In December 2024, Julian shared images of him spending one one-on-one time where they sat down for dinner together.
The black and white images showed the pair at The Dakota, a building where his father lived with Yoko and Sean, and was eventually shot in front of.
‘A Goodnight kiss for my brother, after spending the evening with him, having a lil dinner & chatting the night away, at The Dakota. Something we rarely get to do… Thankful.’
In 2022, Julian told People that Sean was his ‘best mate’.
‘We’re brothers and we love each other deeply on that level,’ he added. ‘We just talk daily, same as anybody would.’
In the same interview he revealed that he and his brother bonded over music, food, exercise, and photography, and have supported each other in recent years.
He revealed that he was wary about attending a screening of the Beatles movie, Get Back, but was encouraged to go by his brother.
‘But [brother] Sean was adamant and felt committed, and we were both in L.A.… so I said, “Listen, I’ll go with you. Let’s go together, let’s go as a team.” And it was great to do that.’
Julian has previously had cancer, and in December 2024 he told fans he underwent surgery after finding two moles, on his shoulder and his forearm, one of which was Melanoma.
He encouraged fans to get themselves checked: ‘It only takes a short while to do so, and you may just be saving your own life, at the end of the day… so please, for the sake of yourself, your family and friends just go to your Dr and do what must be done…
‘I love life and I want to live for a very long time and this is one way, and a choice, that could determine your future… I wish you all happy holidaze and a healthy long life…’