radio station WACI in Birmingham, Alabama, announces their boycott
Commenting on the uproar over the article in America, Maureen Cleave in London said, "John was certainly not comparing the Beatles with Christ. He was simply observing that so week was the state of Christianity that the Beatles were, to many people, better known. He was deploring, rather than approving, this." And at a press conference in New York, to try and head off the growing controversy, Brian Epstein told reporters, "The quote which John Lennon made to a London columnist has been quoted and misrepresented entirely out of context of the article, which was in fact highly complimentary to Lennon as a person."
Brian Epstein speaks to the American press on August 6, 1966.
It did no good. The upcoming US tour was now only days away. Amidst threats on his and the other Beatles' lives, and the possible cancellation of the tour, John, notorious for never apologizing, condescends and has a news conference in Chicago on August 11, 1966: