Aha, so music journalist Tim Jonze is unlikely to be called as a witness by the plaintiff should the previously reported Morrissey/NME squabble go to court.
As previously reported, Morrissey's people are threatening to sue IPC's NME over an interview it published last week in which the former Smiths man discussed British identity, seemingly arguing that excessive immigration had made England a less desirable place to live, or something like that.
Mozza almost immediately accused the music weekly of misrepresentation and character assassination, and he seemed to have a strong case when it was rumoured that the freelancer behind the interview - Jonze - had demanded the feature not be credited to him because he had issues with the NME's edit of his work. The assumption was that the NME had sexed up the piece to make it sound more controversial, and Jonze objected.
But on Friday we reported that Jonze had reportedly said that, while he had requested his name be taken off the non-Q&A bit of the article (where the NME said Morrissey's attitudes to immigration were "like the ravings of a rogue Tory MP"), the singer had, in fact, said all the controversial stuff printed in the NME piece. He has now clarified the situation via The Guardian's comment website and revealed that he actually requested his name be removed from the interview not because the NME had sexed up his piece, but because they'd toned it down.
Jonze says: "The 'I've been stitched up' card is the last bastion of someone who's said something offensive but is too scared to back this up, yet too stubborn to apologise. How can Morrissey possibly claim a stitch-up when the interview is printed in Q&A form, his quotes are recorded on tape and he wasn't even asked about immigration in the first place? It's truly cowardly".
On his request that the actual article be credited to "NME" rather than himself, Jonze continues: "The piece was very critical and NME decided to tone it down, something I didn't agree with. I hadn't even seen the finished version before it went to print. For these reasons, the byline was removed".
Jonze concludes by accusing Morrissey's people of using his request to not be credited with the editorial part of the feature as a way of diverting media attention from what the singer had said.
Despite all this, Morrissey's lawyer has said defamation action against IPC and NME editor Conor McNicholas would now proceed. Which is exciting news for us fans of defamation court cases. Bring it on I say.