Short answers, pulled from the story.
John Lennon wrote the song during the Beatles' stay in Rishikesh, India, following allegations of sexual misconduct by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The group had traveled to the ashram in early 1968 seeking spiritual guidance from the Indian guru.
George Harrison persuaded John Lennon to change the working title from 'Maharishi' to 'Sexy Sadie' before recording began to avoid direct confrontation with the controversial figure. Harrison insisted that if the track was used, its name must be changed so the band could express their feelings without naming names directly.
An early outtake shows the song running 39 seconds longer than the released single because engineers removed an extended section based around the middle eight chord progression. The editing process tightened the song into its familiar three-minute structure for The White Album.
Mia Farrow confirmed decades later during the #MeToo movement that she experienced sexual harassment and described feeling two surprisingly male hairy arms go around her suddenly. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Cynthia Lennon later claimed the story had been fabricated by Alexis Mardas who referred to himself as Magic Alex.
Modern critics rank the song highly for its influence on later alternative rock bands like Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys. The piano riff from this track resembles the main melody found in Radiohead's Karma Police and Arctic Monkeys drew inspiration from the song's final minute for Four Out of Five.