The New York Post has always been known as somewhat of a rag compared to most newspapers. Any rumors that are birthed in its pages are usually dismissed by saying “Oh, c’mon! Where’d you read that!? It’s The Post!” This time, however, they’ve really done it. In a piece that even I was like “Damn, this shit is vicious” while reading, they accuse Christie Brinkley of driving her daughter Alexa Ray Joel, to her suicide attempt. An excerpt here:

Alexa Joel, who bears a striking resemblance to her dad, spent her childhood being berated by Brinkley, who makes mean comparisons between her daughter and ex-hubby, a source said.

“She would tell Alexa that her father was an alcoholic and that she had her father’s genes and that she might be an alcoholic, too,” a former family employee said.

The supermodel urged Alexa to stay slim at all costs.

In one incident, Brinkley grabbed a brownie, chewed it and spit it into a trash can, telling a 10-year-old Alexa, “This is how you eat a brownie without gaining weight,” the former employee recalled.

Basically, they’re making Brinkley out to be an insane Mommy Dearest type, which isn’t impossible to fathom, but the family swears it’s not true at all. Today, Billy and Christie released a statement together about their daughter, which is probably the first time they’ve ever made any joint announcements since they were together. It reads:

Every parent can imagine the pain and anguish we face as parents of a daughter who is working to recover from the dangerous actions she took while suffering a devastating heartbreak. As much as we hate dignifying tabloid stories with a response, we feel we must set the record straight to protect our family. The story that ran in the New York Post on December 8th, and has been subsequently spread across the Internet, is filled with vicious lies and attempts to smear our character and that of our beloved daughter. We ask the public and legitimate media outlets to please “consider the source” and to not further exacerbate our daughter’s situation by repeating and legitimizing these false reports.

I appreciate this story because whatever Alexa is dealing with that made her want to attempt suicide, she’s also dealing with the backlash of having everyone know she unsuccessfully kill herself. While I’m sure that having a supermodel for a mother and an insanely successful father isn’t easy, the portrait The Post painted of their life is ugly, and likely terribly painful for them to read under these circumstances.

Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of supermodel Christie Brinkley and singer Billy Joel was rushed to St. Vincent’s Medial Center in Manhattan this afternoon after a friend called emergency services. The 23 year old told FDNY medics that she was having trouble breathing after taking 8 pills of an unknown substance.

“..though officials didn’t know what kind she had ingested, an official said; it wasn’t clear whether she had accidentally overdosed or attempted suicide.”

Joel is currently in stable condition.

Alexa is a singer-songwriter in her own right and debuted a new single on the Wendy Williams Show in October.

Billy Joel is dating.  Again.  Already.  You may recall that he and wife Katie Joel announced their split just last month.  According to Page Six –and take it with a grain of salt because they’re on my shit list right now for making me believe that Jennifer Love Hewitt was engaged again — Billy is seeing The Young and the Restless actress Alex Donnelley.  Page Six’s source says that the two met backstage during one of Billy’s concerts and now spend time together at Joel’s Sag Harbor home.

Don’t people take any post-breakup recovery time anymore?  I always need at least three months of cyber-stalking, drive-bys and Fritos for dinner before I’m ready to move on.  I guess I’m just not as resilient.

News hit the web yesterday that Billy Joel had bought a restaurant in Sag Harbor for his much-younger wife, ousted Top Chef host Katie Lee Joel. But either that story was false or that restaurant’s gonna have to be returned with a receipt, because today we learn that Billy and Katie are over.

“After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate,” reps for the pair said in a joint statement. “This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other.”

Riiiight. They have so much respect for each other that Katie’s been boinking hottie Israeli chef Yigal Azrouel for the better part of a year. And sources inside Katie’s camp say Billy’s been no better: “It wasn’t like he was a monk when he was on tour.” They’ve both retained lawyers already, although apparently there was a pre-nup.

This is Billy Joel’s third marriage to disintegrate.

Luckily, his daughter Alexa Joel is just a few years younger than Katie. I’m sure she has a friend or two Billy can marry.