Will they let Pete go punk?
Ramones relatives in legal war
Relatives of punk legends the Ramones are dueling in lawsuits — in a long-simmering feud that threatens to torpedo a planned Netflix movie starring Pete Davidson (inset) as the band’s singer.
Guitarist Johnny Ramone’s widow, Linda Cummings-Ramone, sparked the latest round of the bitter brawl in January when she sued singer Joey Ramone’s brother Mitchel Hyman and his manager David Frey for allegedly trying to cut her out of the film and the band’s merchandising deals.
But Hyman — who countersued last month — told The Post the movie isn’t a band biopic.
“It’s not a book about the Ramones,” Hyman told The Post of his 2009 memoir “I Slept with Joey Ramone,” which the movie is set to be based on.
“It’s not a Ramones story,” he said of the book, which outlines growing up with the singer who battled debilatating OCD before his 2000 death. “It’s a story about growing up with a guy . . . who defeated the odds and became an inspiration to millions. That’s what it’s about.”
Hyman and Cummings-Ramone have been locked in legal combat off and on for years over the Ramones and their legacy, which began in Forest Hills, Queens, back in 1974.
That’s when singer Joey (real name: Jeffrey Hyman) and Johnny (real name: John Cummings) launched the band with bassist Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin) and drummer Tommy (Thomas Erdelyi).
The band became one of the most influential groups in rock history, but only Joey and Johnny remained through various lineup changes until the band’s ultimate retirmenent in 1996. All four founders have died.
Despite their huge following and near-mythical status, the Ramones were never a commercial success.
It took 38 years for the band’s April 1976 debut to sell 500,000 copies and go gold — and in October 2022, Joey Ramone’s estate sold a stake of his music publishing rights for $10 million.
Half and half
Hyman inherited 50% from his mom when she died in 2007, and Cummings-Ramone inherited her half when Johnny died in 2004.
In a Sunday phone interview, Cummings-Ramone told The Post that she was simply trying to protect the band’s legacy.
“This is a very unfortunate situation for Ramones fans, and widows in rock-and-roll — this is very sad, what happens to widows, when someone wants what you have,” she said.
“That’s what I’m trying to do: Protect the Ramones legacy,” she continued. “That’s all. And that was left to me by Johnny Ramdeathbed. one, on his Because legacy was the most important thing to him, and the most imme.” portant thing to
But in their retaliatory lawsuit, Hyman — a musician himself who goes by his stage name Mickey Leigh — and Frey claimed Cummings-Ramone was trying to take over RPI and “install herself as the Queen of the Ramones.” “She is driven by an alternate agenda, including her own fame and vanity,” the scathing suit said. And the Netflix movie — announced in April 2021 — seems to be getting caught in the crossfire. There is some question about whether the legal dogfight will shock Netflix into running away. “I can’t speak for Netflix. I have a feeling they’re not happy about it,” Hyman told The Post. “But they haven’t called and said, ‘We don’t like this, we’re done.’”
A Netflix spokesperson deto clined comment Sunday. Representatives for Pete Davidson did not respond to requests for comment.