| “ | Don't ever put me in this position again. You are onstage in ten minutes, so get over yourself and do the show. We are running a business here, you f***ing idiot. (Elton shoves him away and in response Reid slaps him) Don’t ever put your hands on me. | „ |
| ~ Reid revealing his true nature to Elton. |
| “ | Do your worst. In fact, take me to court. You signed contracts with me years ago. So I'll still be collecting my twenty percent long after you've killed yourself. | „ |
| ~ Reid antagonizing Elton by stating that the contracts are binding. |
John Reid is the main antagonist of the 2019 biographical musical drama film Rocketman.
He is Elton John's second manager and first lover. He's primarily one of two things, other than lack of attention and parental love, that contributed to Elton's many addictions. He is based on the real John Reid, yet he is depicted as much crueler.
He was portrayed by Richard Madden, who also played Ikaris in Eternals.
Biography[]
Introduction[]
He is first seen at Elton's performance at the Troubadour, watching him perform "Crocodile Rock". After that, he sees Elton sitting by himself. He gives him a glass of champagne and tells Elton that he sees potential in him. This leads to them falling in love. They spend the night together and then he watches Elton perform again.
Abusing Elton[]
Reid then appears while Elton is recording in a studio with a partner. He reveals that he is interested in becoming his manager. After a night on the town, he convinces Elton to call off his contract with Dick James. He then tells him to come out as gay to his mother. Reluctantly, Elton gets out of the car, much to Reid’s disapproval. After Elton reveals that his mother told him he would never be loved, rather than sympathizing with him, he berates him for nearly making them late to one of Elton’s performances. This abuse leads to Elton becoming estranged from his best friend, Bernie Taupin.
Elton’s Suicide Attempt[]
Later Elton is at his house in Los Angeles. He wakes up and catches Reid cheating on him with another man. Reid has no remorse for this and just makes fun of Elton. Enraged at this, Elton breaks off the relationship but keeps him on as a manager. Then his parents come and Reid further mocks him. After Elton attempts suicide by drowning himself in his pool, Reid just berates him for being “self-indulgent”.
Abuse Goes Too Far[]
After a while, Elton starts to become depressed. Reid appears in his room and mocks him because his success is starting to lower. After a big argument, Reid states that the contract is unbreakable. To keep the abuse out of his head, Elton meets and later marries a beautiful woman named Renate. However, due to the inescapable fact that he is gay, Elton divorces her. That night after dinner with his family, Elton overdoses on drugs and has a heart attack. Reid makes him perform when he should be recovering, shaking it off as a chest infection. Fed up with all the abuse, Elton finally stands up to Reid by leaving the performing studio before going on and signing up for rehab. He is also seen as a hallucination with Elton fighting his inner demons. He appears saying that Elton's problem is that he is selfish, but Elton dismisses that by saying that the real problem was having believed that he loved him and adding that it is something that he was incapable of. At the end Reid states that Elton doesn’t know who he is. Elton walks up to him and says, “Yes I do. I’m Elton Hercules John”. He is not seen again after this. It can be presumed he lost his business and went bankrupt.
Personality[]
He first appears to be very generous. He gives Elton a drink and tells him that everyone will eventually love him. He states his music will bring great joy to the world. In reality he is very manipulative. After becoming Elton’s manager he starts being very cruel to him. The abuse gets to Elton’s head and he starts being unable to control his habits. He was remorseless for all of his actions.
Trivia[]
- In real life, John Reid was nicer to Elton. They worked very well.
- They even worked together after they ended the relationship.
- While Sheila Dwight is technically responsible for Elton’s upbringing, John is the main antagonist because he was harder on Elton and even nearly drove him to kill himself.
- Reid crosses the Moral Event Horizon by making Elton play after a heart attack. Had Elton gone along with it he would’ve died.
- Given that the film changed many things in real life, it may be that Reid and Elton's relationship did not end in a good way as it did in reality. It may be that Elton took the risk of firing John and taking him to trial also denouncing his abuse, although in real life Elton lost in the trial with the departure of Reid, it may be that in the movie he had the same result or maybe he would have won against him.
- Reid was also the manager of rock band Queen in the mid-1970's. He was portrayed in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, by Aidan Gillen, who is famous for playing Petyr Baelish in the fantasy-drama series, Game of Thrones, in, which, Madden also starred as Robb Stark. Reid had a decent working relationship with Queen, so Gillen's portrayal of Reid is far more positive than Madden's.