On Tuesday, the NY Post claimed—through its unnamed sources— that Alexa Ray Joel had been on a terrible family vacation with mother Christie Brinkley days before the 23-year-old apparent suicide attempt. Well, Brinkley and ex-husband Billy Joel issued a joint statement slamming the tabloid's coverage.
Anonymous tipsters said that mother and daughter "have knock-down, drag-out fights regularly over issues relating to Billy Joel" and that Brinkley "would tell Alexa that her father was an alcoholic and that she had her father's genes and that she might be an alcoholic, too" plus harass her daughter about her weight. Which was enough to provoke these words from the Piano Man and Uptown Girl:
Every parent can imagine the pain and anguish we face as parents of a daughter who is working to recover from the dangerous actions she took while suffering a devastating heartbreak. As much as we hate dignifying tabloid stories with a response, we feel we must set the record straight to protect our family. The story that ran in the New York Post on December 8th, and has been subsequently spread across the Internet, is filled with vicious lies and attempts to smear our character and that of our beloved daughter. We ask the public and legitimate media outlets to please "consider the source" and to not further exacerbate our daughter's situation by repeating and legitimizing these false reports.
Well, there are nice notes left from her Facebook page—one reads, "Alexa -- I saw you perform at the Tin Angel in Philly a little while back, and you were fantastic. Don't forget how much we appreciate your music and how much you are loved. Hope you are back making music real soon!!"
