John Lennon’s Scathing Letter to Paul McCartney Sells For $70K At Auction

The nasty letter John Lennon wrote to Paul McCartney in the ’70s has sold at auction after 17 days of bidding … with the winner coughing up some serious dough for the piece of Beatles drama.

Dylan Kosinski, a rep for Gottahaverockandroll Auction House, tells this publication … the Lennon letter sold on Saturday for a total of $70K — a winning bid of $56K, plus the buyer’s premium of $14K — the fee for participating in the auction.

As we reported, John fired off a letter to Paul days after an interview critical of him and The Beatles appeared in a November 1971 issue of British music magazine Melody Maker, and John’s reply is mostly scathing … but also thoughtful and pleading.

John’s frustration with Paul is clear from the jump … telling Paul he’s ungrateful for all the money he’s getting from The Beatles.

As the 3-page letter rambles on, John takes issue with Paul dismissing his song “Imagine” and berates Paul for allegedly threatening to “get us whatever the cost” — “us” referring to the rest of The Beatles.

The piece was estimated to fetch between $30-40K … we’re told there were 11 bidders gunning for the letter, with a total of 14 bids in 2 1/2 weeks’ time.

It’s worth noting … Peter Jackson‘s Disney+ doc, “Get Back,” framed John and Paul’s relationship as friendly, but this letter shows just how much their friendship frayed after 1970.