Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley are speaking out on their daughter’s weekend suicide attempt in a strong rebuttal statement issued Wednesday.

Alexa Ray Joel, 23, spent several hours at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York last Saturday after reportedly consuming pills. Characterized by some reports as “a cry for help,” the apparent suicide attempt allegedly followed a breakup and several months of depression for the talented musician. The former couple attacked the credibility of a New York Post story alleging that a “dysfunctional family getaway” with Christie preceded Alexa Ray’s hospitalization.

“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,” they began. “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,” Billy and Christie continued. “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…”