Religious views of the Beatles the Beatles had become "more popular than Jesus". Lennon had, in fact, originally made the remark to the British newspaper "London Evening Standard" and when it was first published in the United Kingdom, in March 1966, his words had provoked no public reaction. After "Datebook" quoted his comments five months later, however, vociferous protests broke out in the United States. The Beatles' records were publicly burned, threats were made and some radio stations refused to play their music. The protest also spread to other countries including Mexico, South Africa and Spain. Two press conferences were held in the US, where
London Daily News "Evening News" at 5p. Maxwell was dismissive when he heard about the cut-price "Evening News". He told the BBC: "The "Evening Standard" and Lord Rothermere are so worried about their monopoly - which the "London Daily News" is finally breaking - and so scared about the huge demand for our paper, that they've brought out a cheapo "Evening News", which is really a joke." After the "London Daily News" collapsed, The "Evening Standard" 's publishers, Associated Newspapers, continued the "Evening News" for some months as a separate brand, aiming for a more downmarket readership than the "Evening Standard" before re-absorbing