John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) recently lost a High Court battle to stop the Sex Pistols music from being used in a new TV drama.

Former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones had sued Lydon after he tried to veto the use of the punk group's songs in a show directed by Danny Boyle. The pair argued that the group had an agreement that such decisions could be taken on a "majority rule basis".

In court, Lydon said he rejected that deal, likening it to "slave labour". The singer said the band member agreement (BMA) had never been adhered to and that requests for licences had previously been subject to individual members' vetoes.

However, a judge ruled that the contract was valid and active, and that the majority of the band could overrule any individual member's veto.

The judge, Sir Anthony Mann, also noted that Mr Lydon "had actually signed away his power to control the use of music rights" to publishing and music companies such as Warner Chappell Music and BMG.

Now, speaking with The Telegraph (via NME), Lydon says his former bandmates are "evil" and that he's "seriously in a state of financial ruin".

“I’ve got no more savings, no more loans, no pensions. I’ve got nothing… I’m fucked, and I’m scuppered in so many different ways,” Lydon said.

“This entire juggernaut of confusion has cost me millions,” Lydon said of the court case. “Such a hideous, nasty onslaught; I never expected Steve, Paul, and Glen to be that evil. And we never even sat down and had a conversation about it.”

Lydon also suggested that he was outmatched from the beginning given that Pistol is set to premiere on Walt Disney Company subsidiary FX. “This became Walt Disney money versus me. Who do you think’s gonna win?” he said. “The Sex Pistols have become the property of Mickey fucking Mouse.”

Lydon went on to say in the interview that he worries his financial situation will impact the health treatment of his wife Nora, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and for whom Lydon is effectively a full-time carer for, “seeing as they’ve stolen all my money”.

“It’s a very serious problem,” Lydon said. “I’m gonna have to work really hard to gain anything like a fundamentally stable environment to take care of my loved ones. This is what they’ve done to me. Thanks, boys!”

Read more at NME.