We take all the blame. Really.
In our last installment of “Here’s The Latest Stupid Thing Morrissey Said,” we actually led the piece with this:
“Sure, we’d all be better off if Morrissey just shut up, but he does say something stupid nearly every week, so we in the news business are OK with him flapping his gums.”
And that was just a week ago. Now comes word that Morrissey, a singer with a few hits in the 1980s, is swearing off print interviews for good.
“I did an interview a couple of weeks ago for a German newspaper and, of course, let me just say this: That was the last print interview I will ever do,” he said, according to Metro News. “Unless you see the words form in my mouth and then you see or hear the words come out of my mouth… please, if you don’t see that, I didn’t say them.”
Oh yeah, that interview. The one in which the 58-year-old singer defended actor Kevin Spacey, who has been accused by a dozen or more men of sexually assaulting them — including a then-14-year-old boy.
“As far as I know, he was in a bedroom with a 14-year-old. Kevin Spacey was 26, boy 14,” Morrissey told Der Spiegel. “One wonders where the boy’s parents were. One wonders if the boy did not know what would happen. I do not know about you, but in my youth I have never been in situations like this.”
“Never. I was always aware of what could happen. When you are in somebody’s bedroom, you have to be aware of where that can lead to. That’s why it does not sound very credible to me. It seems to me that Spacey has been attacked unnecessarily.”
In another interview, Morrissey added: “You must be careful as far as ‘sexual harassment’ is concerned because often it can be just a pathetic attempt at courtship.”
Oof.
But during a recent performance at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre, Morrissey said he never said those things.
But Morrissey didn’t swear off his other comments made in the Der Spiegel interview, like when he said that he would kill President Trump “for the safety of humanity,” if he could.
“If there was a button here and if you pressed on it,Trump would die . . . would you push it or not?” Der Spiegel asked Morrissey.
“I would, for the safety of humanity. It has nothing to do with my personal opinion of his face or his family, but in the interest of humanity I would push,” the singer said.
“Trump has received so much attention, especially when compared to other candidates — Bernie Sanders, for example. Although the media said he would not win, every day, all the headlines: Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump!” Morrissey said.
“The American media helped Trump, yes, they first created it. Whether they criticize him or laugh at him, he does not care, he just wants to see his picture and his name. The American media have shot themselves in the leg.”
“I never expected him to be elected,” Morrissey continued. “Maybe, I have no faith in the political elite anymore.”
Yeah, maybe it is time for you to shut up, Morrissey.
BONUS: The Onion, the satirical website, posted a little piece on Morrissey’s vow.
“After starting a media firestorm with several controversial statements on sexual harassment, former Smiths frontman Morrissey has announced that he will no longer give print interviews. What do you think?” the site asked fictitious people.
“I hope this doesn’t deter more men from coming forward to voice their opinions on sexual harassment,” one said.
“No! Say more things!” said another.
And said the last: “If print media suffers over the next few years, we’ll know where it all started.”