Why Did John Refer To "Betty Rollins' Legs"?

[Norbert K]

On one of his Dick Cavett Show appearances, Lennon made repeated out-of-context references to "Betty Rollins' legs." There are discussions online instigated by people who wonder what this was about.

Well, in 1969 journalist Betty Rollins visited John and Yoko to write the article that became "Lennon/Ono Inc," and which appeared in the March 18, 1969 issue of Look Magazine. Lennon emerges as likeable and whimsical in the piece; Yoko is depicted as obsessed with self-promotion, manipulative, and frankly as "a pain."

Rollins includes a physical description of Ono:

"Yoko is short, not small. Her face -- what you can see of it in the middle of a bushy outburst of black hair -- is almost fierce. her chest is barreled. She looks almost as fragile, as, say, Ernest Borgnine."

[Nil]

On 25 May 2022, Norbert K <norbert...@gmail.com> wrote in
rec.music.beatles:

What a nasty comment. John was right - his wife was constantly attacked
by racists.

[Pano Otis]

Extrapolations, extrapolations. Who can know. Rollin was recently (2022) interviewed about this. There, she describes the Ono of that time as 'odious,' different than when she knew her as a classmate at Sarah Lawrence.
See 18:34 in this. https://youtu.be/jkn9HcVPJJE

[Norbert K]

Awesome! Thank you.

In her remarkable Look magazine piece, Rollin did not merely liken Ono to Ernest Borgnine. Rollin said that Ono purported to be the inventor of concept art, and that Ono attempted to dictate the content of Rollin's article.

Ono was sufficiently enraged by Rollin's article that, in the 1980s, she sent Sam Havadtoy out to ask Rollin why she wrote such "terrible" things.

Thanks again for the Rollin interview link.