'Nixon was trying to deport them': John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son describes 'terrifying ...
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were not just a power couple because of their undeniable impact on music history. The couple were also dedicated activists and key players in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. And this did not sit too well with the political powers at the time.
Their only son, Sean Ono Lennon, recently sat with PEOPLE to debut the reissue of his father’s album Mind Games, along with a multimedia box set that includes song remixes, reproductions of art pieces made by Lennon and Ono, posters, postcards, and much more. But Ono Lennon also took the time to share important details about his iconic parents’ relationship, including the trying moments where President Nixon wanted them deported. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had the State Department on edge.
Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to stage a “bed-in” protest in the Netherlands. They also recorded their iconic anti-war anthem “Give Peace a Chance” during a similar protest held in Montreal. This, among other anti-war gems like “Merry Xmas (The War is Over)”, was evidently powerful enough to have then-President Nixon threatened, especially as both Lennon and Ono were relentless in their activism. Furthermore, the power couple had billboards put up all around the world that read: “War is Over! If You Want It!”
Following all of this, the Nixon administration began to attempt to get Lennon deported from the United States. The President decided to send the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) after one of The Beatles on a phony drug charge. Nixon’s administration’s petty justification for Lennon’s intended deportation was a marijuana-related misdemeanor charge the musician had gotten in England over five years prior.
Source: Demi Phillips/wegotthiscovered.com
