Saturday, May 23, 2026

Paul McCartney’s Poignant Reminder at NYC March: “One of My Best Friends Was Killed in Gun Violence”

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The clip from CNN is 26 seconds but it crystallizes the whole March for our Lives today. Paul McCartney on Central Park West tells the CNN reporter “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here so it’s important to me.”

McCartney is of course referring to the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980 in front of the Dakota apartment house by Mark David Chapman. That’s almost 38 years ago, it’s one of the most chilling examples of a mentally ill person who was able to secure a gun.

Paul and wife Nancy wore matching t shirts that read “We Can End Gun Violence.”

Paul was never the anti-anything marcher in the 60s. It was all John and Yoko. But this was an incredible grace note for him, and moved the message in new ways. I’m sure Yoko, just a few blocks away, must have appreciated the gesture.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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