December 8th, 1970: John gives Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner his rambling account of who quit who first - between his own declaration of divorce in September 1969, and Paul’s solo announcement press release in April 1970.
JOHN: We were discussing something in the office with Paul, and Paul said – something or other, like, [that he’d] like to do something [to bring the group back together, as a band]. And I kept saying, “No, no, no,” to everything he said, you see. So it came to a point [where] I had to say something. And Paul said, “What do you mean, then?” So I said, “I mean – I’m – the group’s over. I’m leaving.”
Allen [Klein] was there, he – he would remember exactly, as [Yoko] will, [but] this is my – how I see it. Uh, Allen was saying, “Don’t tell.” He didn’t want me to tell Paul, even, you know. [That I wanted to leave the band.] But I couldn’t help myself. So I said, like – “It’s out,” you know. I couldn’t stop it. It came out. And Paul and Allen said they were glad that I wasn’t gonna announce it [to the public], that I wasn’t gonna get an event out of it. Right? But Paul and Allen both— I don’t know whether Paul said, “Don’t tell anybody,” but he was damn pleased that I wasn’t, you know. He said, “Oh, well, that means nothing really happened, if you’re not gonna say anything.” So… that’s what happened.
WENNER: What was Paul’s reaction when you said that?
JOHN: Well, I mean, like – like with anybody, when you say “divorce”, you know, the face goes… all sorts of colours. It’s like he knew, really, that this was the final thing. And then six months later, he comes out with – whatever, you know. I told [British journalist] Ray Connolly, and there was a lot of people knew I’d left, but I was a fool not to do it, you know. Not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record.
