Stars Who Can't Stand Joan Jett

Rocker Joan Jett sang about not giving a damn about her bad reputation. However, that doesn't mean others are fine with her behavior. The former member of the Runaways, current leader of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and co-founder of Blackheart Records established a legion of fans over the decades, thanks to her rebellious attitude toward rock 'n' roll and becoming a larger-than-life figure in the music industry, but she has also accumulated a litany of haters.

Despite Cherie Currie encouraging everyone to put aside their differences for the sake of the fans, Jett and former Runaways bandmate Lita Ford continue to be at loggerheads about a potential reunion. Oh, and there's another member of the Runaways who isn't all too pleased with Jett ruining her biographical film about the group either. In addition to this, there's long-standing beef between Rush and the Runaways because of how the former allegedly treated the latter many moons ago. Throw in a feud with the controversial Ted Nugent, and Jett has enough opponents to create her own version of "Celebrity Deathmatch."

So, with that all said, let's take a look at the stars who can't stand Joan Jett and the reasons for their quarrels.

The Runaways attracted huge attention from the music industry right from their inception; however, not everyone was a fan of the all-girl group, according to the band. Speaking to Spin in 1987, Joan Jett discussed a time in which she saw the Canadian rock outfit Rush watching the Runaways play on stage. She was left disappointed, though, after seeing her peers laugh while the all-girl band rocked out on stage. "The a**holes!" Jett said. "They're a**holes, and I don't care if you print that!"

Fast-forward to the Floria Sigismondi-directed 2010 biopic "The Runaways," which features a scene where a group refuses to allow the Runaways to do a soundcheck before their performance. More than once, Jett confirmed that the band alluded to in this scene is Rush, opening up the can of decades-old worms again.

A few years later, Rush's Geddy Lee addressed the issues with the Runaways in an interview with Prog magazine (via Rush Is a Band). "The Runaways had a ginormous chip on their shoulders," he said. "I remember that show. We had trouble with our gear so our soundcheck got delayed and the Runaways never got one." Lee added how Rush always treated other bands with respect and there was never any issue with the Runaways because they were an all-girl group. However, he couldn't help but get a stab in, saying: "I know they said that we were laughing at them when they played, but quite frankly they were too s***ty to listen to."

The real reason Joan Jett and the Runaways broke up has been disputed by fans and critics alike. The long and short of it is they experienced creative differences and decided to part ways. Speaking to Guitars Exchange, Lita Ford said: "We weren't a team. Joan and Cherie [Currie] were very much a team and Joan and I tried but we really didn't click musically." Nonetheless, Ford expressed a desire to get the gang back together one more time.

In 2018, Ford addressed the possibility of a reunion again in a conversation with DailyMailTV, revealing how it was difficult because of Jett — or rather Jett's manager, Kenny Laguna. "Joan Jett is very much in Joan Jett Land, I guess you could say," she said. "Will she ever come out of Joan Jett Land? I don't think so. I think her manager controls that and it's really up to him and her." Ford added that everything would be fine between Jett and her if not for Laguna, whom she alleges is "very controlling" and considers Ford "a threat." The musician explained how the former members met up for dinner, but Jett brought Laguna along and refused to reply about the possibility of a reunion. 

Appearing on the "Waste Some Time with Jason Green" podcast in 2023, Currie blamed both Ford and Jett for the lack of a reunion, adding how they need to "grow up." Currie said: "I think it's incredibly selfish because you do things for the fans."

During a 2021 live video on his YouTube channel, Ted Nugent questioned Rolling Stone's greatest guitar players list, specifically Joan Jett's inclusion. Nugent expressed his admiration for Jett as a performer but didn't believe she deserved to be on this list ahead of other guitarists such as Rickey Medlocke and Dave Amato.

In a 2022 interview with NME, Jett fired back at Nugent, saying: "Is that his implication, that he should be on the list instead of me? Well, that's just typical — it's what I've dealt with my whole life, being written off. Ted Nugent has to live with being Ted Nugent. He has to be in that body, so that's punishment enough." She added how Nugent – who, incidentally, is one of the '70s rock stars accused of serious crimes – was "not a tough guy" and brought up a much-publicized draft-dodging tale about him.

Nugent responded to Jett in another YouTube video. He said she "attacked" him for his comments, but he "love[s]" her and "love[s] her music." Still, he stood by what he said before: Jett didn't belong on the list. In a later interview with MetalCastle, Nugent claimed it was only his opinion and he never said anything bad about Jett, but she went after him. "I praised her, but then she said I was jealous because I was not on the list," he stated. "I never said that. Should I be on it? If you're asking me, then yes, I feel I should be." He added that he doesn't see Jett as a top 100 guitarist.

To quote the phrase: The Runaways were around for a good time — not a long time. During their four-year stint as a band, they welcomed a number of performers, including Victory Tischler-Blue, who played bass guitar under the name Vicki Blue after Jackie Fox's departure. In 2004, Tischler-Blue wrote and directed a documentary film called "Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways" that chronicled the band's history and experience in the music industry.

For the movie, Tischler-Blue interviewed previous members of the group and people who were involved in the Runaways in some shape or form — except for Joan Jett. In fact, Jett sued Tischler-Blue over the documentary.

In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Tischler-Blue discussed how she had filmed a version of the movie that featured the band's early performances and music, but Jett threw a wrench into the works. "When I got my film deal for that and delivered the edited master, it got blocked by Joan and the result of that was that I lost all the Runaways music in the film," Tischler-Blue said. "And that made [it] pretty impossible for me to have a film talking about the song 'Cherry Bomb' and not be able to play it, so in essence, I lost my movie because of that maneuver by Joan and her management." It wasn't all bad news for Tischler-Blue, though, as she created a new movie from the other footage she had and received "a much bigger deal," according to her.

In interviews, Joan Jett remains vocal about the sexism she faced as a female musician both with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and the Runaways. Speaking to Classic Rock, she revealed how certain male bands reacted to her and the Runaways in the past, bringing up German rockers the Scorpions for particular scrutiny. "Scorpions were mad because they were a German band and we were bigger in Germany than they were," Jett said. "People just don't want to see girls doing things they don't think girls should do."

In another chat with SiriusXM (via Loudwire), Jett discussed a tour with the Scorpions that took her to Spain. As Jett explained, a local Spanish band would play first, then Jett's group, and finally the Scorpions. There was one show where the Scorpions wanted to end early to attend a car show, so they decided to drop the local outfit from the bill. According to Jett, the Scorpions blamed her for their decision, suggesting she didn't want another band with a girl on stage. That evening, Jett received the crowd's ire as they spat at her and tried to scare her off stage. She refused to depart, though, believing none of this was her fault — it was the Scorpions'.

"I didn't know any of this until years later, so all I can do is tell the story," Jett said. "Look, it's karma ... the rock and roll gods speak volumes. Look where I am and look at where the Scorpions are."

Want to find out more about one of rock's greatest icons? Check out what Joan Jett's former bandmates have said about her.