Former Sex Pistols bandmate John Lydon said in a series of tweets that he wants to “distance” himself from his old group who he claims is trying to financially capitalize off Queen Elizabeth’s death. “The timing for endorsing any Sex Pistols requests for commercial gain in connection with 'God Save The Queen’ in particular is tasteless and disrespectful to the Queen and her family at this moment in time… John wrote the lyrics to this historical song, and while he has never supported the monarchy, he feels that the family deserves some respect in this difficult time,” a tweet on Lydon’s official account said. Just before the queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, the Sex Pistols released “God Save the Queen,” which accused the monarchy of being a fascist, capitalistic monster that doesn’t care about the people. Lydon did not specify exactly how current Sex Pistols are attempting to exploit the queen’s death. A spokesperson for the band told The Daily Beast that they were baffled: “We cannot understand what he would be referring to. Other than a couple of requests for use of imagery or audio in news reports on The Queen and her impact on culture, there’s nothing new relating to ‘God Save The Queen’ being promoted or released in any way.”