Robbie Williams officiated an impromptu wedding at NYC screening of ‘Better Man’ biopic 

Robbie Williams has officiated an impromptu wedding while at the screening of his biopic in New York City.

• READ MORE: Robbie Williams and director Michael Gracey on their bananas, CGI monkey- featuring biopic ‘Better Man’: “It’s healing”

The solo artist and former Take That star appeared in the city to help promote his new biopic Better Man. The semi-autobiographical film sees the star represented by a CGI chimpanzee and tells the story of his life and career, from the early days of childhood to his success as a singer.

Appearing at a recent Q&A event, Williams appeared in a leopard-print coat alongside his daughter, and proceeded to officiate an impromptu wedding ceremony when asked by a member of the audience.

As reported by Stereogum, the ‘Millenium’ singer already meets the requirements to be an ordained minister, as he used the internet to do so back in 2002.

“So, by the power invested in me by absolutely nobody and it’s not legally binding…” he began, as per footage shared from an audience member, which shows him standing on the stage with the couple.

“But it is legally binding in your heart, your heart and my heart. Do you say ‘I Do’ to your missus? Do you say ‘I Do’ to your Mr?” he continued. Find the footage below.

I love NYC what do you mean Robbie Williams officiated a wedding at this Q&A? https://t.co/46Qp1TEUew pic.twitter.com/s3vP7TPyCJ

— Brian (@midsommarz) January 12, 2025

Better Man was released in the UK on December 26, while in the US it expanded into over 1,200 cinemas on January 10. Upon the release, it was soon reported that it was having a difficult time at the box office.

As reported by Variety, that opening day saw the film draw only $580,000 (£475,000), which will be seen as a significant disappointment.

The film, which is directed by The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey, was made for a reported budget of $110million (£90million), and has made a total of £3.8million from its first two weekends in UK cinemas, according to the Film Distributors’ Association.

In a three-star review of the film, NME wrote: “Better Man begins like a John Lewis ad and swerves into an R-rated hodgepodge that somehow does too much while also barely skimming the surface of Robbie Williams’ career.

“This is ‘Rudebox’ on film: some of it good, some of it very bad, all of it a bit of a mess. Still, the monkey musical is a big swing that no one else would have taken. You can’t fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we’ll eat $110m worth of bananas.”

The film also includes the new track ‘Forbidden Road’, although the song was recently disqualified from the shortlist for Best Original Song at the Oscars as it includes “material from an existing song that was not written” for the film. This “existing material” refers to an excerpt from ‘I Got A Name’ by Jim Croce, which was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel.

“Listen, the rules are the rules and you have to go by them,” Williams said in reaction to the news. “It would have been nice, but also as an introvert, it’s another party I don’t have to go to. I went through it, I’m on the other side. It’s all good.”

Speaking to NME about the film, Williams reflected on the response to the film and what it is like to finally see the project completed. “At the minute, I just wanna take all of this in. I wanna drink every moment that I can, because I’m now in a place where I can derive joy from life,” he said. “I couldn’t derive any joy from life for such a long time. And I feel as though I’m getting lucky again and I’m getting another bite of the apple.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the singer also revealed to NME that he is working on a new album, which will include collaborations with Glenn Hughes and Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi.

Hopes for a new album from the ‘Rock DJ’ star have been prominent for some time now, and back in September the artist told fans back that a new record was on the way. When it arrives, it’ll mark his 13th as a solo artist and his first full-length album since 2019’s ‘The Christmas Present’.