I really enjoyed this movie. And towards the end you're all high on the great music and Rock'n'Roll lives, and then BAM!, they hit you with "The mans life was ruined". Very bittersweet for me. The music lives on, but a man was ruined for something that won't even matter in 10 years.
shareTerrible shame.
shareYes, I liked the abrupt ending too.
Some factual errors exist though - the riot that caused all this trouble occurred after a show in Boston, not Brooklyn, in 1958. Freed was indeed arrested and indicted for inciting a riot.
However, his career did go on after the riot. He got fired from WINS, but he got a new position in WABC; he also still kept his TV gig on ABC. The movie incorrectly suggested that the riot killed his career.
What really killed Freed were the 1960 indictments for bribery (ie “payola”), as he accepted money to play certain songs. These charges (not the riot charges) are what ended his career, forcing him to step down from all of his TV / Radio jobs. He even pleaded guilty to 2 counts bribery in 1962. He died in 1965 from alcohol complications.
This movie has been criticized for downplaying the payola issue.