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Rock Legend Billy Joel Slams ‘Misguided’ Biopic

Billy Joel is telling filmmakers behind a planned biopic that he will not support it.

Billy Joel is taking aim at an upcoming film about his early years, warning that the project is moving ahead without his approval or the rights to his story and music. Billy & Me will chart Joel’s early rise through the eyes of his first manager, Irwin Mazur, who discovered the future superstar in the late 1960s and helped launch his career. But Joel’s camp says the filmmakers have been warned for years, according to Variety. A representative told Variety the filmmakers have known since 2021 they do not have Joel’s life rights and are unlikely to secure his music rights. “Billy 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.” Rather than focusing directly on Joel, the project centers on people around him. Producers secured life rights from Mazur and former bandmate Jon Small, who called it “the most honest, heartfelt, and authentic portrayal” of the singer’s early years.