PLAY NICE –
July 26, 2025 – “Elton had made a comment that he thought I needed real rehab,” Joel says in the second half of HBO’s And So It Goes, referring to Elton John’s 2011 Rolling Stone interview. “He chalked it up to, ‘Oh, he’s a drunk.’ And that really hurt me.” For someone who’d already lost a marriage to addiction and was trying to step back quietly, the public shaming from a friend wasn’t a wake-up call. It was a gut punch. The two have long since reconciled — and to be fair, Elton’s heart likely was in the right place. But addiction isn’t linear, and recovery doesn’t come with a script. When it comes to sobriety, even well-meaning words can land like a slap — especially when they come from someone who’s been there, too.
