Bruce Springsteen’s Manager Denies Reports of Chris Christie Rift

A video of Bruce Springsteen supposedly snubbing former New Jersey governor Chris Christie during a recent concert in Brooklyn went viral over the weekend, generating headlines at TMZ, New York Post, Fox News, and many other outlets. But in a statement to Rolling Stone, Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime manager, says the moment has been totally misread. 

“Current stories claiming a break in the friendship between Bruce and Chris Christie are absurd,” Landau says. “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 diss came near the end of Springsteen’s May 14 show at the Barclays Center, when he ventured into the crowd during “10th Avenue Freeze-Out,” a longtime concert ritual. When he got back near the stage, Christie was standing on the side with his hand out for a high five, but Springsteen walked past and left him hanging. This split-second moment was read as evidence of a rift between the two, even though it’s pretty clear in the video that Springsteen was turned away from the former governor, was focused on his performance, and even turned towards him and cheerfully said “Come on, gov” at the start of the song. (Check out the 2:40 mark in the below video.)

Many people were primed to read the failed high five as evidence of a rift between the two since Springsteen is a vocal Democrat and Trump critic, this tour is extremely politically-charged, Christie is a Republican who became one of Trump’s earliest big-name supporters in the 2016 primary, and served as a sounding board and debate coach during his first term. But Christie turned on Trump hard following the Jan. 6 insurrection. In 2024, Christie attempted to defeat Trump in the Republican primary. Since that time, Christie’s been a regular voice against him in the media.

Despite his many ups and downs with Trump, Christie has never wavered In his support for Bruce Springsteen. “As a a kid from Jersey, Born to Run spoke to me,” Christie wrote on the album’s 40th anniversary in 2015. “Bruce wrote of the places and the people I knew. He wrote about our hopes and frustrations. He gave voice to the suburban kids like me who were filled with dreams and doubts. He was one of us.”

To further clamp down on reports of a rift between the two men, Christie posted a backstage photo of himself with Springsteen taken during the past week. “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true?” he wrote, echoing a famous line from “The River.”