NME apologises to singer Morrissey over article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18410933

[q]he NME has publicly apologised to singer Morrissey over an article it published in 2007, which, the singer claimed, suggested he was racist.

The former Smiths star sued the magazine, saying it "deliberately twisted" his comments on immigration.

The NME and publisher IPC apologised in a joint statement, adding: "We do not believe [Morrissey] is a racist."

An NME spokeswoman said the magazine was "pleased it has buried the hatchet" with the singer.

She added the matter of the libel case was now closed and that the settlement did not involve payment of any damages or legal costs.

The case had been due to go to trial next month after Morrissey won a pre-trial hearing against former NME editor Conor McNicholas and IPC at the High Court last October.

The singer welcomed the verdict, saying he wanted his day in court to "clear my name".

The original 2007 article, titled Morrissey: Big Mouth Strikes Again, quoted Morrissey allegedly saying: "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears."

He was also quoted as saying: "the gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away."

In the statement published on its website and in the magazine, the NME said: "We wish to make clear that we do not believe that he is a racist.

"We didn't think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way.

"We never set out to upset Morrissey and we hope we can both get back to doing what we do best."

Morrissey's solicitor was not immediately available for comment.[/qp

""We didn't think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way"

THIS IS NOT AN APOLOGY

But whatever.

so did he not say the things reported in quotes or did he say them in a special non-racist way that went unreported?

the full quote was "A total racist wanker would say, 'Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.' I despise that type of thinking and have tried to fight against it with every fibre of my artistic being."

he said them in "Bengali in Platforms."

This whole thing would be better if (1) Morrissey expressly and unequivocally rejected racism for once and for all and (2) stopped saying such idiotic shit in the first place

I'd also like to apologize to Morrissey. I made fun of you for many years.

please let the nme get back to doing what they do best

issuing quasi-apologies?

Morrissey has been accused of racism or of out-dated attitudes to race. In 1985 he stated that "all reggae is vile", a dismissal of the genre that some found to be racially charged. He later said that this was a tongue-in-cheek answer to "wind up the right-on 1980s NME" and that he was actually a fan of much reggae music.[34][103]

In 2010, during an interview with Simon Armitage for The Guardian, Morrissey alighted on the topic of animal cruelty in China, saying "you can't help but feel the Chinese are a sub-species."[113]

I thought showing Morrissey up for barely concealed racism was the thing NME did best recently.

poor old stephen patrick mo' racey

perplexed that Morrissey's thinking of the Chinese as animals doesn't make him more predisposed to them. I thought Morrissey loved animals!

it's almost like he doesn't know what he's talking about!

I guess it saves face on both sides and i'm pleased it doesn't put some very nice people through the strain of a court case but i'd have loved to have seen him lose at trial.

If Morrissey's settled for this and no damages or costs, he must have been told he hasn't got a leg to stand on. IPC's accepted the non-apology apology route purely to save money on going to court. Morrissey's lost this one in a big way. Unsurprisingly.

Absolutely. I'm astonished it got as far as it did, to be honest.

This whole thing would be better if (1) Morrissey expressly and unequivocally rejected racism for once and for all and (2) stopped saying such idiotic shit in the first place

OTM

Was/Is Morrissey Racist?

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