John Lennon almost got roughed up at the playboy mansion

Hugh Hefner says that John Lennon once escaped bodily injury after stubbing out his cigarette on a priceless Henri Matisse painting while visiting the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles in the mid-'70s. Fametastic.co.uk reported that Hefner recalled the incident, explaining that, "(At the time he) was separated briefly from his wife Yoko Ono and was in a very bad mood. He was drinking a great deal. He misbehaved a little bit and a couple of my friends took exception to it. He put a cigarette out on a Matisse and one of my friends was going to kick his butt. But he'd been drinking."

Hefner forgave Lennon, saying that, "He was under tremendous pressure. And Lennon was one of my heroes."

Upon staging his comeback in 1980, Lennon and Ono gave Playboy magazine the most exclusive and in-depth interview of their careers. The interview, which has been published in book form over the years, is the only instance in which Lennon ever discussed what he and Paul McCartney specifically contributed to each Beatles song that they co-wrote.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were separated for 14 months in 1973 and 1974. The period has legendarily been dubbed Lennon's "Lost Weekend." Although Lennon's hard-partying ways have been well documented during that time, it was also Lennon's most prolific post-Beatles period.

During the "Lost Weekend," Lennon recorded three albums, scored his first-ever Number One hit with "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night," and recorded with his former Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Lennon also recorded at various points with Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Harry Nilsson, and with Elton John, with whom he performed live on November 28th, 1974 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
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