Billy Joel and ex-wife Christie Brinkley have issued a statement about their daughter Alexa Ray Joel, in response to tabloid reports that suggest the singer/songwriter's Dec. 5 overdose was motivated by a family dispute.

"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," begins the statement. "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."

The article in question linked Alexa Ray's suicide attempt to a recent vacation the 23-year-old musician took to Turks and Caicos with her mother. The vacation went awry, alleges the newspaper, after old fights centered around Billy Joel were rehashed.

Alexa Ray was released from the hospital on Monday and has cancelled all appearances to promote her new single "Invisible," including Thursday's NYSE holiday tree lighting and a performance at J&R Music World. The singer "is feeling much better," according to her rep Claire Mercuri. "She is with her family and looking forward to getting back on track."