Stop me if you think you have heard this one before: Morrissey shows his support for right-wing ideologues and political organizations, and then denies being racist in doing so, shifting the blame and calling those who question his actions and statements hypocrites.
This decade’s long controversy has finally come to a head, with Morrissey’s support for the UK’s “far far right” For Britain party making waves in recent news, with the maligned Mancunian singer wearing a For Britain pin while performing on The Tonight Show, and during his Broadway residency.
Following his statement following those incidents, where he lamented the press’ “contorted interpretation of who and what I am”, Morrissey has enlisted his nephew Sam Esty Raymer, so spin a new interview in an attempt to paint the vulgar picture of Stephen Patrick Morrissey into something more palatable for those struggling to maintain their fandom.
Raymer, known for his work as a photographer, started the interview out with the declaration: “I wanted to interview you myself because I am absolutely sick of reading terrible things about you in the UK press.”
Morrissey then responds, with some baffling incoherency remarking on what makes someone racist, stating:
“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? The people who reduce every conversation down to a matter of race could be said to be the most traditionally “racist” because everything in life is NOT exclusively a question of race, so why make it so? Diversity can’t possibly be a strength if everyone has ideas that will never correspond. If borders are such terrible things then why did they ever exist in the first place? Borders bring order. I can’t see how opposing Halal slaughter makes me racist when I’ve objected to ALL forms of animal slaughter all of my life.”
As for For Britain and its leader Anne Marie Waters, Moz continues:
I think Anne Marie Waters is the only British party leader who can unite the left and right. I don’t know any other party leader who even WANTS to do this. 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 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.
Morrissey also draws attention to David Bowie’s brief fascination with fascism, for which the late legend had later apologized for:
“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?
Obviously a fascist would never have recorded “Lady Stardust” … and a fascist would never have recorded “Wedding Bell Blues”, but, you see, the press choose their targets, and ignore what it suits them to ignore. In a way, that’s the key to modern Britain … only the mentally castrated are eligible for praise and awards. It’s against the law to be intelligent! The dumb have inherited the earth. [laughs] Because of this, British arts are controlled by completely limited possibilities, and the same faces appear everywhere. When you start arguing with The Guardian you feel as if you’re trying to reason with people who are barely toilet-trained. There actually becomes no point.”
Morrissey also continued assailing The Guardian, commenting on why he hasn’t yet pursued legal action against the British newspaper:
“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. You might wave The Guardian aside and simply say, well, they’re just loudly ridiculous, but at the same time you must wonder about their legal status and acceptable standards of journalism, and how to distinguish …. if you can … between what is actual news, and what is written with a full intent to cause harm. The Guardian have pestered and relentlessly harassed musicians in my life urging them not to work with me again. Now, this is not journalistic opinion at work, it is hate with the sole intent of making me a public target. 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.”
The right-wing apologist interview closed out, with something completely from left field, when Morrissey was asked if he has any small regrets:
“Oh, I never make my regrets small … if I can help it. Oh. Umm. Robert Smith. I said some terrible things about him 35 years ago … but I didn’t mean them … I was just being very Grange Hill. It’s great when you can blame everything on Tourette’s syndrome. [laughs]”
Morrissey is then asked if he ever met Smith, who he had been trashing in the press during the early 80s, to which he replied:
Oddly, I was in a pub near Buckingham Palace perhaps ten years ago … and there he was … staring over confrontationally. I take no moral responsibility for whatever I said in 1983 … after all … who does?
You can read the full interview here.
Or via: