This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Artist News Media
Morrissey defends Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 20 November 2017
Professional contrarian and occasional singer-songwriter Morrissey has seemingly come out in defence of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. In a new interview with Der Speigel, he is quoted as saying that both men’s alleged victims should have been aware of what could happen if they went into someone else’s bedroom.
Asked about the numerous claims of sexual assault made against numerous men in the entertainment industry since the Harvey Weinstein scandal first broke, Morrissey says that it has now become “theatre”.
“All at once everyone is guilty”, he says. “Anyone who has ever said to someone else, ‘I like you’, is suddenly being charged with sexual harassment. You have to put these things in the right context. If I cannot tell anyone that I like him, how should he ever know?”
While quickly adding that he thinks “rape is disgusting”, he goes on to say that, in the current climate, “every person on the planet is guilty”, adding that some people are “very awkward when it comes to romance” and that their frustration and confusion around it can come across as “aggressive”.
On Spacey, he asked where the parents were of the fourteen year old he is alleged to have assaulted, referring to the first accusation made against the actor and director.
“One wonders if the boy did not know what could happen”, he remarks. “I do not know about you, but I’ve never been in situations like this in my youth. Never. I always knew 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 Spacey has been unnecessarily attacked”.
As for the accusations against Weinstein – particularly the allegations that he assaulted women after inviting them to his hotel room – Morrissey equally feels that the victims should share the blame.
“People know exactly what happens”, he is quoted as saying. “And they play along. Afterward, they feel embarrassed, or they do not like it. And then they turn it around and say, ‘I was attacked, I was surprised, I was dragged into the room’. But if everything had gone well and had it given them a great career, they would not talk about it”.
While again insisting that he hates “sexual situations that are forced on someone”, he says that in “many cases, one looks at the circumstances and thinks that the person referred to as a victim is merely disappointed”.
Elsewhere in the interview – in which Morrissey describes himself as “apolitical” – he calls Brexit “a victory for democracy”, he attacks the media for being used as “social engineering”, and says that he would kill Donald Trump if given the opportunity. He also claims that multiculturalism has made Berlin “the rape capital” of Europe. Yeah, it’s quite the interview, even by Morrissey’s standards.
“I want Germany to be German”, he continues. “I want France to be French. If you try to make everything multicultural, you will not have any culture in the end. All European countries have fought for their identity for many, many years. And now they just throw it away. I think that’s sad”.
