According to NME, Billy Joel has called out the biopic, Billy & Me, for allegedly being created without his approval, the rights to his music or his life rights. The biopic, directed by John Ottoman, is told from the perspective of Joel’s first manager, Irwin Mazur, who first discovered and signed Joel, working with him for two years until he signed with Columbia Records. The filmmakers of Billy & Me had acquired Mazur’s exclusive life rights prior to the making of the film, as well as the life rights of Joel’s longtime friend and bandmate, Jon Small. Their not having acquired Joel’s life rights, which would have allowed them to use his life story in the film, has been allegedly attributed to the filmmakers’ decision to tell the story from the perspective of Mazur and Small instead. Joel has also claimed, though, that the biopic did not have his permission or the rights to use his music either. 

“The parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights required for this project,” a spokesperson for Joel said. “Billy Joel has not authorised or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.”

However, while Joel has condemned the project, Small has spoken about it very positively, specifically in its depiction of the singer. Small described the film as “the most honest, heartfelt, and authentic portrayal of Billy’s early life and rise to becoming one of the greatest musical voices of our time.” He also noted that its creation was “grounded in truth, shaped with care, and built with the insight of people who genuinely know and love Billy.”