Morrissey: The NME Are 'Devious, Truculent and Unreliable'

Morrissey has written a fierce response to The NME and its editor Conor McNicholas in the wake of the contentious article they published last Wednesday.

The Smiths legend accused the magazine of “deliberately try(ing) to characterise me as a racist… in order to boost their dwindling circulation.” He has since filed a lawsuit against the publication.

In the impassioned statement published on true-to-you.net, he also said that his comments on immigration in the said article are “butchered, re-designed, re-ordered, chopped, snipped and split in order to make me seem racist and unreasonable.”

The NME had accused Morrissey of “using naïve and inflammatory” words when discussing immigration in the UK. They also claimed that his language “echoed” the manifesto of the highly controversial British National Party. 

In the original piece, Morrissey had claimed that Britain “a negative place” and said comments like: “Although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the identity disappears.”

To add extra twist to the story, Morrissey’s manager Merck Mercuriadis claims that the journalist who conducted the interview, Tim Jonze, asked for his name to be removed from the article and denied that the words reflected his own views. It’s also claimed that Conor McNicholas either ignored or delayed subsequent contact to get matters cleared up.

Earlier today, Morrissey used his post on true-to-you.net to categorically deny that he is any way racist, saying: “I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is. Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.”

Perhaps more damaging are Morrissey’s claims on what Tim Jonze allegedly said as a backdrop to the interview. He writes: “My heart sank as Tim Jonze let slip the tell-all editorial directive behind this interview: ‘It's Conor's view that Morrissey thinks black people are OK ...but he wouldn't want one living next door to him.’ It was then that I realized the full extent of the setup, and I felt like Bob Hoskins in the final frame of The Long Good Friday.”

He also accused The NME of being “devious, truculent and unreliable” and perhaps more noteworthy saved his sterner words for Conor McNicholas.

He writes: “The IPC have appointed Conor as the editor of the "new" NME, and there he remains, ready to drag the IPC into expensive legal battles such as the one they now face with me due to Conor's personal need to misstate, misreport, misquote, misinterpret, falsify, and incite the bloodthirsty.

“Here is proof that the "new" NME will twist and pervert the views of any singer or musician who'd dare step into the interview ring. To such artists, I wish them well, but I would advise you to bring your lawyer along to the interview.”

Towards the end of the post he confirmed, what is very obvious, that he will no longer associate himself with the weekly music rag, finishing “of this I am eternally grateful.”

Upon being contacted by Gigwise, Tim Jonze said that he is unable to comment until he has handed the tapes of the interview to the lawyers. 

An NME spokesman told us: "We can confirm we have received two writs from Morrissey's legal representatives pertaining to NME and its editor Conor McNicholas. NME takes this matter - and the issues it highlights - extremely seriously and we are currently in discussion with our own legal representatives. We will not be commenting further at this time."

For more of Morrissey’s thoughts, click here