Morrissey has responded to recent criticism in a new interview, conducted by his nephew Sam Etsy Rayner and published on the musician’s own website MorrisseyCentral.com.
The musician recently faced condemnation after wearing a badge featuring the logo of far-right anti-Islam political party For Britain during a recent TV appearance on Fallon.
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The performance led to posters for his new album ‘California Son’ to be removed at Merseyrail stations and for his music to be banned from the world’s oldest record shop amid other criticism.
Asked by Rayner why he has not sued The Guardian, who were among the titles to publish critical articles about him in the aftermath, Morrissey said: “As a so-called entertainer, I have no human rights… apparently… because you put yourself ‘out there’. If I were a postman I would have won a Harassment Case against The Guardian and been awarded 10 million pounds in damages by now.”
Later, he added: “The Guardian have pestered and relentlessly harassed musicians in my life urging them not to work with me again[…] In these days of casual knife crime and hurling of acid, you’d expect The Guardian to maintain a certain careful morality. But no. If I suffered physical harm as a direct result of the Guardian’s tyranny, you can imagine cheers and champagne exploding through their offices… it chills the blood. The Guardian fully believes it is a political party.”
Elsewhere, Rayner asked Morrissey to clarify his political position. The musician says he has “never” been a supporter of UKIP or of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, but says that “it’s obvious that [Farage] would make a good Prime Minister.”
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He also maintained that he “absolutely” supports For Britain, saying: “The UK is a dangerously hateful place now, and I think we need someone to put a stop to the lunacy and to speak for everyone. I see [For Britain leader] Anne Marie Waters as this person. She is extremely intelligent, ferociously dedicated to this country, she is very engaging, and also very funny at times.”
When asked about being called a racist, Morrissey said: “If you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist?”
He later referenced David Bowie, who at one point in his career expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and fascism. Morrissey said: “Someone made the point the other day about David Bowie’s famous ‘England would benefit from a fascist government’ comment… and his admiration for Hitler… and how Hitler was as stylish as Jagger… and how the UK needed a ‘complete right wing leader’. Could you imagine if I’d said THAT!
“Now, of course, I sat privately with David many times, and he wasn’t remotely fascist… although it has been said that he’d visited Hitler’s bunker. But, how many writers at The Guardian have David Bowie albums? All of them, probably! Hypocrisy?”
As well as lengthy discussions about politics, vegetarianism and music, Morrissey also found time to apologise to The Cure‘s Robert Smith, with whom he traded insults in the 1980s.
“I said some terrible things about him 35 years ago… but I didn’t mean them,” he said. “I was just being very Grange Hill. It’s great when you can blame everything on Tourette’s syndrome.”
Criticisms around Morrissey’s politics are nothing new. In 2018, he also made headlines when he discussed accusations of racism and alleged connections between Halal meat and ISIS.
He has in the past he has described the Chinese people as a “subspecies”, has referred to Hitler as ‘left wing’ and claimed that London Mayor Sadiq Khan “can not talk properly”.
After being criticised for supporting English Defence League Founder Tommy Robinson, he issued a statement in which he said he “despised racism and fascism” and voiced his support for Muslims.