EXCLUSIVE: We Reveal How Elvis Presley Secretly Plotted With FBI to Have John Lennon Booted Out of the U.S. – After Beatle Dared to Mock The King
Elvis and John Lennon shared a mutual hatred for one another.
May 18 2025, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Elvis Presley despised Beatle John Lennon – and the success the English moptops were enjoying at his expense – so much The King plotted with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to have him banished from America, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
And the feeling was mutual – Lennon openly insulted and mocked Presley during their one and only meeting, so upsetting the crooner he made it a personal mission to ruin the tart-tongued Lennon’s life.
After Presley – himself a chronic abuser of prescription drugs – coaxed President Richard Nixon into appointing him as special drug enforcement agent, complete with badge, Presley set his sights on Lennon, according to a blockbuster new book, Elvis Meets the Beatles, by Chris Hutchins and Peter Thompson.
The authors obtained FBI files detailing Presley's meeting with FBI agents, in which he said he thought the Beatles' music was a subversive influence.
Fierce Rivalry
Presley convinced J. Edgar Hoover to surveil Lennon and push for deportation.
"Presley indicated that he is of the opinion that the Beatles laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people," FBI files state, adding Presley said the Beatles influenced American youth with their "filthy unkempt appearances" and suggestive music.
Tipped off by Presley, the FBI's Hoover ordered an immediate update of Lennon’s files and started an aggressive surveillance operation against Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, the authors say.
Hoover succeeded in having a deportation order served on Lennon and Ono, stemming from a minor drug bust in England Lennon's lawyers successfully fought the deportation, but it didn't stop Hoover and Elvis from trying everything to get them shipped across the Atlantic.
Presley reportedly blamed the Beatles for corrupting American youth with rebellious music and messy looks.
"Hoover, like Elvis, reasoned that the best way to deal with John’s radical cheek was to deny him direct access to its protagonists in America," the authors wrote.
"'Kick him out and keep him out' was how Elvis put it to the guys.”
The seeds of the feud were sown years earlier, when the Beatles invaded America with their bright pop sound – and relegated Presley to second place in the eyes of pop-crazy American teens.
Author Hutchins, a music writer who was friends with the Beatles as well as an associate of Elvis' manager Col. Tom Parker, arranged a meeting between the Beatles and Elvis in 1965 in Los Angeles.
Sinister Plot
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Presley stood stunned as Lennon mocked his films and Vietnam support during their only meeting.
After some uncomfortable, silent moments, the English lads played songs with Presley. But later, Lennon walked over to the fireplace and noticed a tiny covered wagon sporting the slogan, "All The Way With LBJ," which was Presley's way of showing support for then-President Lyndon Johnson.
"To John, LBJ was a warmonger responsible for the slaughter of innocent civilians in what he regarded as a civil war between the Vietnamese people," the authors wrote.
They added: "John reacted a little later when he heard Elvis say, 'I'm making movies at a million bucks a time and one of 'em – I won't say which one – took only 15 days to complete.'
"'Well, we've got an hour to spare now,' said Lennon. 'Let's make an epic together.' Elvis looked stunned, but held his tongue. By putting Elvis down over his movies, he was also belittling the King's support for the Vietnam war."
