Did Billy Joel cancel a series of concerts with Bruce Springsteen in May 2025, during the fallout from criticism by Springsteen of President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: That rumor originated on a Facebook page that describes its output as satirical. During a concert in Manchester, England, Springsteen called Trump "unfit" and described his administration as "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous". In response, Trump called Springsteen a "pushy, obnoxious jerk" and "dumb as a rock".
The rumor appeared in a May 18, 2025, post on X (archived here). The text embedded in the meme read:
Billy Joel canceled his summer concert series with Bruce Springsteen after the negative publicity from his disrespectful comments:
"Music and politics don't mix."
Ticket holders will be issued a full refund.
This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot)
This was entirely false. Joel and Springsteen never had a series of concerts scheduled for the summer of 2025, so no cancelation was possible. Furthermore, Joel had made no comment on the controversy arising from Springsteen's remarks, as of May 19, 2025.
The rumor, and quotation falsely attributed to Joel, originated in a May 18 post on Facebook by America's Last Line of Defense, whose creator also runs the website Dunning-Kruger Times, which carries the following disclaimer:
Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.
On May 14, Springsteen made a series of political comments during a concert in Manchester, England, calling Trump "unfit" and describing his administration as "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous":
Trump responded with a post on Truth Social, calling Springsteen "highly overrated", "a pushy, obnoxious jerk", and "dumb as a rock":
(Source: Truth Social screenshot)
