MJF Says Singing ‘Pennies From Heaven’ Was For His Grandfather, Talks Representing Jewish Community

MJF opens up about singing “Pennies from Heaven.”

MJF opens up about singing “Pennies from Heaven.”

The April 5 , 2023 episode of AEW Dynamite emanated from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. MJF often says Long Island is the most magical place in the world, and the show marked a special homecoming for the AEW World Champion. He celebrated MJF Day on AEW’s flagship show, and the ceremony featured him being given the key to the city of Oyster Bay, New York. MJF especially stole the show when he sang Bing Crosby’s classic “Pennies from Heaven”. 

Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, MJF was asked about his musical performance, and he described how it was for his grandfather, Papa Stanley. 

“So Papa Stanley—big scoops here at Fightful—do you see this tattoo? Can you see it? That’s my grandfather. He passed away about three years ago. He was a band leader. He actually, practically, invented bar mitzvah parties. So what used to happen was, he would go to a bar mitzvah. Some poor fucking schmuck would read their haftara and then everybody would eat a bagel with cream cheese and go home. There was no party atmosphere in the aftermath. My grandfather was like, ‘This is fucking lame.’ He was the leader of the Al Stan Orchestra. So he started post-haftara parties. Then that became a huge thing. Weddings, bar mitzvahs, the Al Stan Orchestra was fucking huge. If you’re in the north east, you know what the Al Stan Orchestra is. He loved Pennies from Heaven. He would just randomly start blurting out that song in public places. So that one was for him,” MJF said.

The conversation turned to other noteworthy members of the Jewish community, and MJF quipped that none of them are good. When WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg came up, MJF stated that he’s barely Jewish. However, he expressed his approval of Paul Heyman.

“None that are fucking good, but yeah,” MJF said. “Goldberg, is that who you’re gonna fucking bring up. He’s barely Jewish. Paul’s great. Yeah, Paul Heyman. He’s my uncle,” MJF said.

MJF also emphasized that representing the Jewish community means the world to him. He stated that he didn’t have to go through any of the stereotypical experiences Jewish people are usually characterized with in the media, and he appreciates the significance of representing the community by being himself.

“You know, a little transparency, it means the world to me. There was two types of Jews that you would see in the media, TV or in movies. It was either really fat money hungry or really feeble, ‘Oh, please, don’t hurt me.’ So for people to be able to have a Jew to watch on TV to represent them that’s handsome and cool and charming and funny and witty and intelligence and very humble I think is so important. So important,” he said.

MJF continued, “I know. Yeah. I know the song. But I didn’t have to go through any of that. I’ve been rich my whole life,” he said.

In the same interview, MJF discussed Cody Rhodes’ loss at WWE WrestleMania 39. Check out his comments here.

MJF recently stated that he doesn’t ask Tony Khan for advice. Click here to see what he had to say.

Cody Rhodes has commented on MJF potentially coming to WWE. More information is available here.