While disbanding back in 1996 after performing one last concert in Los Angeles, the Ramones continued to leave their mark on the music industry. Throughout their time on stage, the band released 14 studio albums, with their last hitting shelves back in 1995. Given their stage presence and unique style, Rolling Stone listed them on the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Spin named them second on the list of greatest bands of all time. The Beatles were the only band to beat them. Having such an impact, it appears that a new biopic about the band was in the works until Johnny Ramone’s widow Linda Cummings-Ramone decided to file a lawsuit against them.
According to a lawsuit filed back in January, Cummings-Ramone claimed that the late Joey Ramone’s brother, Mickey Leigh, secretly worked to develop a biopic about the band with Netflix. There were even rumors about Pete Davidson playing Joey. Not happy about the news, the widow suggested she needed to authorize any “story of the Ramones.” Her lawyer stated, “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.”
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Mickey Leigh Files Suit Against Johnny’s Widow Over the Ramones
Back in March, Leigh decided to file a countersuit against Cummings-Ramone. In the filing, Leigh’s attorneys argued that she did give permission for a movie based on the 2009 memoir from Leigh called I Slept with Joey Ramone. “Ms. Cummings-Ramone did consent to Defendants’ development and production of a motion picture.” The attorney added, “Ms. Cummings-Ramone’s main purpose is to embarrass, harass, and destroy the integrity of Mr. Hyman, create an utterly false narrative about him, rewrite her role in the history of the Ramones, and win a popularity contest in which, in her mind, she takes over … the legacy of a band of which she never was a member and had nothing to do with creatively.”
Discussing the book with Billboard, Leigh admitted the book was not about the band but Joey Ramone. “The fact is, I did not write I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Punk Rock Family Memoir about my brother’s band and had no intention whatsoever of doing that. I wrote a story about growing up with a big brother who endured a severe somatic malady at birth, and later developed neurogenic problems. That led to doctors making diagnoses that he would never be able to function on his own in society — and that big brother, with support from his family, proved those doctors wrong as he went on to do great things with his life and become an inspiration to millions.”
(Photo by Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)