Rocker Bruce Springsteen was arrested on drunken-driving charges late last year at a national park in New Jersey, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Wednesday.
News of the arrest emerged days after a Jeep commercial featuring “The Boss” aired during the Super Bowl. The auto brand said later Wednesday that it would “pause” the ad “until the actual facts can be established.”
Springsteen, 71, was “cooperative throughout the process” of being arrested Nov. 14 at Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook, National Parks Service spokeswoman Brenda Ling said in a statement.
Springsteen was accused of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area.
Springsteen’s new album “Letter to You” debuted the same month at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. With that placement, Springsteen became the first musician to have a new top five-charting album in each of the last six decades.
Three days before the arrest surfaced, the musician starred in his first Super Bowl commercial. The Jeep ad featured Springsteen calling for Americans to find unity after a divisive year.
“There’s hope on the road up ahead,” Springsteen said in the two-minute spot, which featured numerous shots of him driving a Jeep CJ-5 across country and city roads.
In a statement to CNBC, a Jeep Brand spokesperson said it would “pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established.”
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate,” the spokesperson said.
The commercial’s message of “community and unity is as relevant as ever,” the spokesperson added, “As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned.”
Spokespeople for Springsteen did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment about his arrest.
In his 2016 autobiography “Born to Run,” Springsteen said he avoided drugs and didn’t try alcohol until he was 22, in part because of how drinking had affected his father.
In the 500-page book, Springsteen revealed that he had a long history of depression, a surprise to many.
Springsteen has been lauded by his fans and bandmates for his healthy living habits, such as hitting the gym and avoiding drugs and alcohol, which they credit for giving him the stamina to perform hourslong concerts decades into his career.
“I mean, I’m sure he’s taken a drink or two a few times in his life, but he was never a drinker either,” guitarist Steven Van Zandt in Springsteen’s E Street Band said in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone.
Springsteen’s arrest was first reported Wednesday by TMZ.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
