Regardless of what you think of John Lydon, you could never accuse him of failing to speak his mind. On the receiving end of his unique brand of scorn this time have been Simon Cowell and Band Aid.

The former Sex Pistols frontman was addressing an audience of around 300 at Oxford University’s Sheldonian Theatre on Monday evening, ahead of the release of his autobiography ‘Anger is an Energy’. Firstly, he took aim at talent contests like ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.

John Lydon
John Lydon? Outspoken? Never! This time, he took aim at Simon Cowell and Band Aid

"Simon Cowell, that's our worst enemy… I don't think [the contestants] on the show are that awful, it becomes awful when they become trained into that cruise ship show band mentality, and that's the poison of it.” He continued: "It's really bad, all of them shows. How seriously the judges take themselves, and the way they judge! People, just being innocent. The brutality and the cruelty of it; that ain't the world I live in.”

More: John Lydon: “Russell Brand wants cardboard boxes, down by the river”

Lydon was then asked about the recent thirtieth anniversary re-release of Band Aid, to which he replied: "I never found Band-Aids work, they think they're waterproof, get full of water and then fall off – and it's the same with Geldof's lot. I don't like them because they're open to corruption. There's this thing called administration and that's where all the money is eaten up.”

Since the start of his musical career, Lydon – stage name Johnny Rotten - has never been afraid of airing his opinion publicly. Recently, he was engaged in a war of words with English comedian Russell Brand, warning that his much-publicised plans for political revolution were hollow.

More: Russell Brand responds to John Lydon – “I didn’t say don’t vote”. Er, yes he did