I honestly think it's all an image...i know a guy who works for television. They did a program with Marc Reynebeau (a Belgian journalisrt who is the opposite of Lydon's image, a guy who writes about classical music and has thousands of books). First of all Reynebeau and Lydon became good friends. And the guy i know said that Lydon was liked by everybody of the crew...he said that Lydon was a nice person.
When i was at university, i was in the same class as the girl friend (and later wife) of a sort of Belgian punk cartoonist and artist: Kamagurka. This guy also did stage shows that were outrageous and very agressive. When they had their first child, i was their babysit for a while...it turned out that Kamagurka was the opposite of his flamboyant, agressive public personality. He was a real family guy who loved to stay at home having quiet evenings...
For some people their public image (limited) is the way they earn money.