Rabbani and Solimene Photography / Getty Images; Todd Williamson / Getty ImagesJohnny Rotten is playing the Britney Spears card.
Taking a page from the pop princess' legal playbook, an attorney for the Sex Pistols singer is asking a Los Angeles judge to keep a videotaped deposition sealed to avoid getting leaked.
Rotten (real name: John Lydon) is being sued for allegedly striking a woman in a dispute over a hotel room.
"Even though a rock star, Mr. Lydon still has privacy rights," attorney Stephen Caine argues in his motion, filed Friday. "Release of the videotape would serve absolutely no public interest and could only serve to embarrass Mr. Lydon publicly."
Caine cites as precedent Britney Spears' successful battle to suppress her own depo in her child custody case with Kevin Federline, which was resolved several months ago. Other stars, such as Lindsay Lohan and Keanu Reeves, have made similar requests.
Caine predicts that if the tape isn't kept under lock and key, it would "find its way to the Internet unless a meaningful barrier is in place."
Keith A. Fink, the attorney for plaintiff Roxanne Davis, is trying to fight the motion, saying in his court response that "public ranting and lewd behavior" on Rotten's part is already floating around the Web, including a YouTube video of the "Anarchy in the U.K." purveyor hurling 87 obscenities in less than a minute.
Lydon was supposed to sit for the deposition on Oct. 3, but it was scrapped after Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green decided to postpone until he had a decision on Rotten's request.