Fans have reacted angrily after Joe Corre started to burn an estimated £5million worth of Sex Pistols and punk memorabilia in protest.

The son of former Sex Pistol manager Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood declared the burning of the memorabilia back in March as part of Punk’s 40th anniversary, which Corre claims received backing from the Queen whilst criticizing BFI and The London museum for turning punk into a “Museum piece”.

Now a video has emerged with a ‘teaser’ for Saturday’s burning ceremony showing Corre setting alight an acetate of the Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy In The UK’ – declaring “punk has become a brand, just like McDonalds”. You can see the burning of the ‘Anarchy In The UK’ acetate below.


The video has sparked outrage amongst Twitter users with many claiming the money should instead be donated to charity. One angry user even commented: “burning of punk memorabilia isn’t punk, it’s fucking sad”. Marc Almond even branded it ‘selfish and pointless’

A multimillionaire hiring a PR team to help advertise his burning of punk memorabilia isn't punk, it's fucking sad — 14 Cats In A Suit (@FlimandCo) November 25, 2016

Isn't burning a load of valuable punk stuff cos you're over punk just a bit …. Punk ? — django django (@thedjangos) November 25, 2016

Don't get the burning of £5m's worth of punk memorabilia. That stuff should be in a museum. Dopey rich fools & their 'punk statements'. — Dean De Brún (@reus85) November 25, 2016

I think burning the Punk Memorabilia was a stupid pointless and selfish thing just to make what? A silly point? Why? ……. — Marc Almond (@MarcAlmond) November 25, 2016

There are plenty of youth charities that @realjoecorre could give £5m for the sale to, who'd turn it into something to believe in again. — Paul Holmes (@DidymusBrush) November 25, 2016


The burning of Joe Corre’s personal collection take place on Saturday, the acetate was originally listed on Ebay for charity, when bidding was stalled below it’s reserved price of £62,500, prompting Corre to proceed with the burning. The remainder of Corré’s punk memorabilia will be burned to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘Anarchy In The UK’. The event will be live-streamed on Burn Punk London‘s website.

By Nathan Smith