Man on the Run: Director explains why Paul McCartney got the blame for The Beatles breaking up

4 March 2026, 14:16

Man on the Run: Director explains why Paul McCartney got the blame for The Beatles breaking up

Paul McCartney took plenty of arrows for The Beatles split.

The Beatles broke up gradually, then suddenly.

Ringo Starr bailed on the group during the recording of Abbey Road before being welcomed back. So did George Harrison.

• Watch the full interview with Man on the Run filmmaker Morgan Neville above

But it was John Lennon who, during a meeting with Starr, Paul McCartney and manager Allen Klein on September 20, 1969, arguably was the one who ended the band when he announced: "I'm leaving the group."

It was decided to keep the decision under wraps for business reasons, though, and it wasn't until McCartney announced the split in a faux Q&A press release to promote his solo McCartney album.

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So it was Macca who bore the brunt of irate fans for several years before a more full version of the story eventually emerged.

This has been explained by Morgan Neville, director of new documentary film Man on the Run, which explores Macca's life directly after the break-up.

"He was the one who announced it," Neville told Gold Radio's Simon Rimmer.

Paul McCartney: Man on the Run - Official Trailer | Prime Video

"They'd kind of kept it quiet but Paul's the one who finally announced it because he's putting out his record. I think he was sick of keeping it a secret."

He added: "In the film you see Paul's notebooks. His daily diary. You see where it says 'The End' with the little apple. That was written on the day John said, 'I wanna break up the band'.

That's actually the page for the diary that day... then he drew also, you see a shot of it, of kind of a caricature of John with a little bubble saying 'Divorce'.

"It backs up what Paul's telling of it is, which is this is what he was experiencing at the time, that it really was just ending."

Man on the Run is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.

Watch the full interview above.