The incident occurred in 1980 on the set of the Kenny Everett Christmas Special. Numan, then a rising star with the massive hit “Cars,” was invited to watch Bowie film a segment. “I go along with a friend of mine… I’d only been famous ten minutes,” Numan recalled. However, the dream quickly soured. “Bowie’s seen you and he doesn’t want you here—you’ve gotta get out,” the director told him. “I got thrown out… I wasn’t even on the special.”
Numan admits the rejection was crushing. “It took away all of that hero worship,” he told the hosts. “It just made me realize that he was human… if you are human, then you are just like me. So therefore, yeah, it’s not as special as I thought it was.”
Reflecting on it years later, Numan views the clash through a lens of professional rivalry. “He probably saw me as a threat… I think there was a level of insecurity in him as his career wasn’t quite what it had been. He’s probably panicking about that. I’ve come along and I’m the talk of the town for a moment.”
Despite the “vitriolic” treatment—which Numan says included Mick Jagger “ganging up” on him—he holds no grudge. “It doesn’t bother me. It hasn’t ever since. It’s just an interesting story to talk about now.”
‘I’m ADHD! No You’re Not’ is available on all podcast platforms every Thursday.
