The criticism pertains to Cooper’s choice of wearing prosthetic nose to play Bernstein — and have furthered an ongoing debate about who should be able to play Jewish roles, with some commentators going so far as to label Cooper’s performance as “Jewface.” (Cooper is not Jewish.)

“It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well,” the Bernsteins write.

They add that the critiques are “disingenuous attempts bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”

Twitter users were quick to pounce on the aesthetic choice, posting side by side photos of Cooper’s Bernstein and his real-life counterpart, with some noting the prosthetic nose was larger and pointier than Bernstein’s own.

Jake Gyllenhaal, whose mother is Jewish, lost rights battle to play the West Side Story composer to Cooper and his producing team, which includes Scorsese and Spielberg.

Speaking to Deadline in 2021, Gyllenhaal said, “The idea of playing one of the most preeminent Jewish artists in America and his struggle with his identity was in my heart for 20 some odd years, but sometimes those things don’t work out.”