Bradley Cooper co-wrote, directed, and stars within the new Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro. Cooper will not be Jewish, and within the movie’s trailer he will be seen sporting a distinguished prosthetic nostril, which led to allegations that Cooper was performing in “Jewface” upon the trailer’s launch Tuesday. Now Bernstein’s kids have issued a press release defending Cooper. “It occurs to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a pleasant, large nostril,” they write. “Bradley selected to make use of make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we’re completely nice with that.”

Of their assertion, the Bernsteins emphasize the extent of care Cooper dropped at their father’s story and the way carefully he included them within the course of. Right here’s the total message:

Bradley Cooper included the three of us alongside each step of his wonderful journey as he made his movie about our father. We had been touched to the core to witness the depth of his dedication, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted pleasure he dropped at his exploration. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It occurs to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a pleasant, large nostril. Bradley selected to make use of make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we’re completely nice with that. We’re additionally sure that our dad would have been nice with it as effectively. Any strident complaints round this problem strike us above all as disingenuous makes an attempt to convey a profitable particular person down a notch — a observe we noticed all too typically perpetrated on our personal father.

Always in the course of the making of this movie, we might really feel the profound respect and sure, the love that Bradley dropped at his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his spouse, our mom Felicia. We really feel so lucky to have had this expertise with Bradley, and we are able to’t await the world to see his creation.

– Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein

Maestro premieres 9/2 on the Venice Movie Pageant, arrives in theaters 11/22, and hits Netflix on 12/20.