Morrissey Suggests Media Conspiracy Against Him in ‘State of the Union’ Video
In a video posted to YouTube today and titled Morrissey's State of the Union Address, the British singer suggests that his latest album's chart position and his single's lack of radio airplay stem from the media plotting against him following his recent controversial comments.
The eight-minute-plus video, which begins with an acknowledgement that he is suffering from a "virulent flu virus," comes after his late-November declaration that he will no longer give interviews with the print media. "I feel that the campaign for Low in High School and for surrounding singles was derailed and damaged purposely by the haters," he says.
"I think critics consider all the things that are important to your audience, and therefore they consider all the things that would turn your audience against you," he adds. "And that is what they accuse you of in order to make your audience angry with you. Because they know there's no other way, especially when you've been around as long as I have. I've been assassinated many, many times. However, I'm still here."
The situation stems from interviews he gave to Germany's Der Spiegel and The Times of London, in which he first questioned the overwhelming sexual misconduct claims against Hollywood power brokers and then suggested he would kill U.S. President Donald Trump "for the safety of humanity."
Morrissey has claimed he was misquoted and later clairified those comments in a statement posted to Facebook. "Would I kill Donald Trump? No, never," he wrote. "Would I support Kevin Spacey’s private proclivities? No, never. Would I ever support abuse of children? No, never. Would I support sexual harassment? No, never. Would I support rape? No, never. Would Der Spiegel convey my views fairly? No, never. Would I ever again speak to print media? No, never.”
But in the video, he believes his album isn't doing as well as anticipated because radio stations have largely refused to play the single, "Jacky's Only Happy When She's Up on the Stage," due to the controversy. "I suspect it's because of the hateful press I have received over the past three weeks in Britain, by the usual outlets, mainly The Guardian, so forth, the usual haters," he says. "Everything goes back to a recent interview I regrettably gave with Der Spiegel, in Germany, the newspaper."
“It seems to me that, in the first place, they get very angry or very excited if you stop to say something that people are listening to or that reflect the will of the people," he says of the press. "They get very nervous. They won’t allow it. They shut it down and so forth. They’re not listening to the music. They’re not listening to anything, really. They see my name, and they want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. And as I said, in many ways, they do succeed. There’s not really that much you can do about it. You have to live with it."
He even reveals that his comments, as reported by Der Spiegel, put him in the hot seat with the U.S. Secret Service, which cross-examined him. Morrissey reports that they were "very, very nice and I do understand their position. So that went very, very well and they assured me they have no cause for concern ... Whether I’m allowed free access to America, I really don’t know. I have to see if I can enter the country again."
Morrissey had been touring the U.S. before canceling the final dates due to "illness in the touring party." The tour is currently set to resume in the U.K. in February.