I always thought "I'm doing f'ing great" was intended in the same ironic mood of "have a nice day".

September 2016: "Bon Jovi returns to the vaults with 'I'm doing great', the first single of their forthcoming new (and final) album."

When he first tweeted it (before the interview-bashing started and we knew even less than we do now, if possible), I honestly didn't give it too much thought. Now, I read it that way as well. Ironic not as in he's actually awful, though, but as in he's indeed ****in' great in a smug in-your-face kind of way. The "face" probably being Jon's, I don't know. And it does make me wonder: is he aware of the way it all looks like to us fans? Does he care about it? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that's the way I see it now.

I took most of Richie's Tweets to be passive-aggressive swipes at Jon, actually. As for how it looks to us, maybe he isn't thinking of that if he's aiming them at Jon. If he /is/ thinking of fans, though, maybe he's only thinking of his Twitter fan base, who tend to shower him with compliments and devotion at every turn. That has to be gratifying to his ego: Everything he writes seems to be followed by: 'Do what you need to, Richie, your fans are behind you!' and so on.

If Richie comes back I for one will look at all the JnR hugs, smiles and back/butt pats with a cynical eye. And the duel guitars in the air, will it mean the same or will it be something done out of habit, so the fans will think everything in Joviland is perfect once again? I hope I'm wrong and the so called brotherhood can be repaired but it needs a real fix not a pretend one. This whole thing is making me jaded.:)

Lol sadly, I'll probably be doing the same thing; I loved the bromance; it certainly seemed genuine (most of the time, anyway). I'll try to refrain from posting my musings here too often, though; that's what rock band bromance fan forums are for xD

If this is indeed a matter of a falling out between Jon and Richie (the "if" is still mandatory), I don't think that scenario is something we have to fear.
Despite what some people think, I honestly don't believe they could fake it. They obviously can't, and that's why we're on this 518-page thread to begin with. They have money, they have fame, they have a career. They just (supposedly) don't like each other at the moment for some reason. If that's the case, I hope in the end they'll kiss and make up, and when that happens, you'll just know it's real. Jon wouldn't be able to pretend he likes someone when he doesn't if his life depended on it, and Richie apparently doesn't even try and just walks away in a big fashion.

Yeah... but, c'mon, he's gotta know his every tweet/move is followed by Bon Jovi fans as well. I don't know if Ava had the heart to tell him she's being stalked by people over him, but unless he's oblivious to the rest of the world, he must have a clue about how this is all unfolding from an outside perspective.

Well, yes, that makes sense, too, so I'll amend my previous statement. It's probable that he knows exactly how it sounds, and perhaps we will find out in due time what his motive was. Or maybe we never will. In any case, he's probably angled his communication to get what he wants out of this thing, whatever it is.

Yup, I agree, that's what it sounds like to me as well. I think Richie's a very, very smart man. Much more than he's probably given credit for. I don't want to say "calculating", but he surely knows what he does, why he does it and what consequences it will bring about. I'm speaking in general here, and I'm sure this drama makes no exception.

I have no doubt that both Jon and Richie know exactly what is being said on this and other popular sites, if for no other reason than to gauge fan climate. And I am also pretty sure that Richie is well aware of the fact that his Twitter Bugs (if you will) follow everyone he mentions from Ava to Denise to the guy who carries his luggage if they can get a name.

As much as I usually appreciate your voice of reason, Mysterytrain, I have to disagree with you on this. I think when Richie refers to his fans he means all of his fans... his solo fans, the Bon Jovi Darksiders, the guys who love him primarily for his guitar, and the "band" fans who just like him as a part of the band. I don't know why anyone would think that his reference to the fans would only be that select group of fans who follow him on Twitter. Because he's "letting the [others] down" by dropping off the tour, perhaps?

I have maintained from the beginning of this that whatever reason Richie has for walking is important - not trivial, not pissy, not boredom, not... whatever. Simply because he's putting too much on the line to take the stand. What so many seem to be having a hard time wrapping their heads around is the fact that it's not a devestating illness, a tragedy of some sort, his family seems to be fine, he says he's fine (either in a Have a Nice Day way or genuinely) and seems to be going on with his life, so it simply CAN'T be important enough for him to walk off and let people down. Because WE, with our limited knowledge, haven't been able to figure out what "it" is and it's none of the things that WE would think are important, ergo, it's gotta be that the ONLY answer is that Richie's irresponsible and disrespectful to his fans. There seems to be no room amongst the preconceived notions, the hurt feelings, the Jon vs. Richie bashers, the lost money and opportunities that populate our worlds for the idea that there might be something that we don't know (that even WE would consider important, if we knew it) and that whatever that is might at the root of it. Perhaps it's a conviction that anyone else would admire him for standing up for, maybe it is a dispute with Jon and they have to get it resolved before either of them can say (and in which case, they may never say - given Jovi's secrets to the grave mentality).

But I say again that I have too much respect for Richie AND Jon to condemn either one of them until the facts are in, and maybe not even then, because even if we learn more facts, unless we're there, we don't know the whole story. So I'm not sure that even then I would be inclined to blame.

Having said that, Jessy, I owe you, at least, an apology for misrepresenting both Jon and myself in my first post. You are right. I did misquote Jon. I went back and watched the video. However, I do still feel that there was a veiled threat in the "won't be performing" line. That was what made me suspect a dispute to begin with. But he did not say "anywhere". And if I implied that Jon planned the whole thing, that was certainly not my intention. I'm not sure either of them planned any of it - hence the suddenness of it all.

What I meant to say, and not very well apparently, was that I believe that Jon prepared his comments and knew full well what the implication of those comments would be. I think he's doing what he does best - selling the band. And I do have genuine respect for his business savvy, his drive and ambition, and his work ethic, and many other qualities. In all honesty, however, I don't think he's above fighting dirty; and maybe neither is Richie, but over the years I believe we've seen more evidence of that from Jon than from his wingman.

Regardless, it's all a part of what makes them who they are and I think they're probably both people I would genuinely like, despite character flaws and unfortunate behavior at times. Just because a person behaves badly at times - as we all do - doesn't make them a bad person. Usually it just makes him a good person behaving badly.

Anyway, apparently I implied otherwise and I never meant to. So I apologize.

I really just wish people would cut Richie some slack over this. To my knowledge, except for some unfortunate circumstances over the last few years, he's been there whenever called upon, for the fans and for the band, and he's had Jon's back when Jon himself was unable to give anymore. And Richie's always shown appreciation for his fans. I guess I would like for people to focus a little more on that than on their current disappointment, especially in light of the fact that we don't know the whole story and they may not be able to tell us any more until things are resolved.