{"id":653844,"date":"2026-05-20T05:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/653844\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T05:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:52:09","slug":"billy-joel-rep-slams-billy-and-me-biopic-professionally-misguided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/653844\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel Rep Slams ‘Billy and Me’ Biopic: ‘Professionally Misguided’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA new biopic chronicling the early years of Billy Joel<\/a> is officially in development, with editor and director John Ottman attached to helm the project. However, a spokesperson for the singer-songwriter said that Joel has not authorized the film.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSince 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel\u2019s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project,\u201d the rep told Rolling Stone in a statement. \u201cBilly Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Variety<\/a>, Billy & Me will be told through the perspective of Joel\u2019s first manager, Irwin Mazur, who discovered the future star in 1966 and officially signed him as a client in 1970. Under Mazur\u2019s guidance, Joel would go on to secure a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1972, helping set the stage for his eventual global success. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to Rolling Stone, Ottman stated that the film is \u201ctold from the perspective of Irwin Mazur, and we hold the exclusive life rights to Irwin Mazur,\u201d adding, the biopic \u201cneither depicts nor seeks to use any of Billy Joel\u2019s original music because it takes place during his formative years performing cover songs with The Hassles and struggling to find his artistic identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOttman addressed the statement from Joel\u2019s spokesperson and said, \u201cto characterize the project as \u2018legally and professionally misguided\u2019 does not accurately reflect the actual nature of the film or the rights underlying the production.\u201d The director added, \u201cthe project is based on Irwin Mazur\u2019s firsthand experiences and his legitimate right to tell his own life story and perspective surrounding the events depicted in the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tProduction also secured life rights to Joel\u2019s longtime friend, drummer, and video director Jon Small, who is set to serve as a consultant, co-executive producer, and second unit director on the film, per Variety. Filmmaker Adam Ripp is writing the screenplay, and the project will be produced under his ArtPhyl Pictures company.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is the most honest, heartfelt, and authentic portrayal of Billy\u2019s early life and rise to becoming one of the greatest musical voices of our time,\u201d Small said of the film. \u201cBilly & Me is grounded in truth, shaped with care, and built with the insight of people who genuinely know and love Billy,\u201d he continued. \u201cToo often, stories about artists get lost in exaggeration or mythmaking. Billy & Me reflects the real history with integrity and respect. I first met Billy when he was 16 years old, and after reading the script, I felt the filmmakers truly understood who he was before the world knew his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casting for Billy & Me is currently underway, with production scheduled to begin in fall 2026, with locations in Canada and New York.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tPrior to Billy & Me, Ottman worked as lead editor on the Michael Jackson biopic Michael<\/a>, which was released earlier this year to massive commercial success and fanfare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis article was updated on May 19 at 9:48 p.m. ET to include a statement from John Ottman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new biopic chronicling the early years of Billy Joel is officially in development, with editor and director…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[18153,236,88],"class_list":["post-653844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-billy-joel","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}