It's safe to say that Billy Joel fans aren't happy. CBS interrupted the end of the singer's The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden, cutting off "Piano Man." And now, we know who and what's to blame.
Videos by Wide Open Country
First off, let's not blame the local news stations that picked up after the fade to black. A local anchor in Fort Wayne, Indiana went to social media to apologize after the station got flack online. One person wrote, "Can't believe @WTVH cut from the Billy Joel special to the news just as he was singing Piano Man! WTH @cnycentral? Who's running that place? Must be a bunch of clowns."
In reponse, anchor Rex Smith tweeted, "I apologize to the people who were enjoying Billy Joel singing on TV then all of a sudden had to see my face. I'd have picked Billy Joel over me, too. Also for the record, we have no idea why that happened that way. I'm sure it will be looked into."
However, it looks like the Masters is to blame. According to Evan Closky, sports director at WTSP in Tampa Bay, Florida, CBS didn't account for a special report from the Masters. That threw off the timeslots. Joel's special didn't air as it was intended at 9 p.m. ET due to the Masters.
"As a man who grew up right next to Billy Joel's hometown, who went to The Last Play at Shea, it was my duty to apologize to everyone about cutting off our telecast of Billy Joel tonight," Closky said on X.
Billy Joel Fans Blast CBS
However, many fans want an apology from CBS. So far the station has been silent about the Joel special. One person got heated. They wrote, "Dear @CBS F--k off. #BillyJoel #MSG #100 concert not only starts a half hour late, but then you cut off the last 3-4 minutes for local news to start at 1130? Are you serious. Absolutely pathetic decision making, on an event that's been advertised for MONTHS, and you f--k it up."
Another wrote, "Hey @CBS wtf is this?! You cut off @billyjoel during Pianoman of all songs?! And then didn't come back to it?!?! Now wonder network TV is a mess. Not ballin, not ballin at all."
Still another wrote, "You couldn't produce a worse product than CBS just did on the Billy Joel special Way too many commercials, didn't play some of his best songs, went extremely out of order in his set list, and then cuts away to the local news in the middle of Piano Man?!? A total flop by CBS."
