Long after their passings, the feud between Johnny Ramone and Joey Ramone lives on. Johnny’s widow, Linda Ramone, is suing Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh, over the Pete Davidson-led Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone.
Johnny and Joey notoriously had a cantankerous relationship throughout the existence of the Ramones. In fact, Joey dated Linda before she eventually married Johnny.
The movie, which is currently in development and stars Davidson as Joey, is based on Leigh’s memoir I Slept With Joey Ramone. In her lawsuit, Linda claims that Leigh “covertly developed an unapproved and unauthorized Ramones-based biopic” that is based on his “one-sided recitation of the history of the Ramones,” according to Billboard.
Linda’s attorneys further state, “Ms. Ramone objects to defendants’ attempt to create a Ramones film without her involvement — not to be obstinate, but rather based on defendants’ disregard for [Ramones] assets and their conduct and treatment of Ms. Ramone and her late husband. To permit defendants alone to tell the authoritative story of the Ramones would be an injustice to the band and its legacy.”
In addition to Leigh, Linda is also suing David Frey, a representative of Joey Ramone’s estate. The suit argues that the Netflix movie will unfairly get to tell the “authoritative story” of the Ramones, and that there likely won’t be a market for another film after this one. “There will likely not be an appetite for a subsequent Ramones film, thus destroying the single most lucrative and substantial corporate opportunity of the company and usurping it as defendants’ own,” assert Linda and her legal team.
In addition to starring in the film, Davidson is co-writing the script. It’s being directed by Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence, I Want You Back). Netflix was not named in Linda Ramone’s lawsuit.
Linda Ramone and Mickey Leigh each own half of Ramones Productions as the respective executors of Johnny and Joey’s estates. They’ve been embroiled in a number of legal battles in the years since the two punk icons’ deaths.
Billboard reports that an attorney for Leigh declined to comment on Linda Ramone’s new lawsuit.