Yoko Ono Denies John Lennon’s Eating Disorder
Always one to speak on behalf of John Lennon’s legacy, his widow Yoko Ono came to his defense when rumors started to swirl about his eating habits.
Recently there have been rumors that Lennon used to purge food in order to deny himself of certain foods. The act of purging involves binge eating and then disposing of it through forcing the body to reject it.
The published book “BackStage Pass VIP” by Debra Sharon Davis doesn’t spare any details about Lennon’s supposed bizarre habits with food. The book is said to detail his eating disorder and claims that Lennon had an easier time hiding the disorder because of the other more publicized problems his fellow rockers had to deal with in the public eye.
However, Yoko Ono has denied such allegations and recently told UK’s Mirror that “John did not have an eating disorder. Sometimes he slipped and ate a bar of chocolate.”
Davis is sticking to her claims saying, “One must also realize that at that time the public and the media were unaware of bulimia as an addiction and health risk –- which made it all the more frightening for John Lennon. He literally had no point of reference on what he was experiencing.”
One source she names as reputable who also experienced the singer’s eating disorder was a close friend of the musician, Harry Nilsson, who died in 1994. Nilsson observed Lennon’s struggle with discipline and he went on record to say Lennon had a “ravenous appetite,” telling Davis, “he said food was ‘sacred’ to him and it frightened him. He saw it as ‘a great weakness.’”
John Lennon was known for his strict dieting and often saw himself as a vegetarian and even went on a macrobiotic diet as well.
