John Lydon is no stranger to shocking television appearances, but the former Sex Pistol provoked fury this week by ordering a female host to "shut up when a man is talking".
The 57-year-old was branded a "sexist, misogynist pig" after his appearance on the Australian talk show The Project on
Channel Ten.
Lydon, who is touring the country with his band Public Image Limited, launched a verbal attack on the female anchor, Carrie Bickmore, when she cut in with a question about the death of Baroness Thatcher.
After a benign start in which the punk rocker insisted "I don't seek trouble", he turned the audience against him with a series of sexist comments. He told Bickmore to "shut up", claiming she had interrupted him. "When a man is talking, do not interrupt," he said.
The awkward laughter gave way to stunned silence as she protested and Lydon, 57, went on: "Stop it. You sound like one of them dreadful loud birds I don't like."
