Forget the feud — Bruce Springsteen and Chris Christie are still besties, thanks very much.
A video of the Boss seemingly dissing the former New Jersey governor during his May 14 show at Brooklyn's Barclays Center went viral over the weekend, sparking headlines at TMZ, the New York Post, and Fox News. But Jon Landau, Springsteen's longtime manager, wants everyone to pump the brakes on the drama.
"Current stories claiming a break in the friendship between Bruce and Chris Christie are absurd," Landau told Rolling Stone. "We've all been friends for years. Chris was attending his 180th show, standing at the side of the stage as our guest. And we hope to see him at our next 180 shows, as our guest. Period."
The supposed snub happened during "10th Avenue Freeze-Out" when Springsteen dove into the crowd for his traditional concert ritual. When he returned to the stage, Christie had his hand out for a high-five — but the rocker walked right past him.
In the actual video, Springsteen was turned away from Christie, focused on his performance. He even cheerfully said "Come on, gov" at the start of the song. Hard to argue that's a diss.
The internet was primed to see conflict because Springsteen is a vocal Democrat and Trump critic, while Christie was one of Trump's biggest supporters in 2016. After January 6, Christie turned against Trump and even challenged him in the 2024 Republican primary.
These two are on the same side of the political fence these days. The high-five miss was just a man in the moment doing his thing on stage.
