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Morrissey Still Pursuing Libel Case Against NME for Calling Him Racist

Photo: Ian Gavan/2011 Getty Images
GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Morrissey performs live on the pyramid stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 24, 2011 in Glastonbury, England. The festival, which started in 1970 has grown into Europe's largest music festival attracting more than 175,000 people over five days  (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
Morrissey. Photo: Ian Gavan/2011 Getty Images

A British court heard arguments yesterday from Morrissey and NME, with Morrissey petitioning the court for a jury trial for his libel case against the magazine. The animosity stretches back to the nineties, but the current legal battle stems from a 2007 interview in which NME quoted Morrissey saying, “The Gates of England are flooded … the country’s been thrown away,” a controversial stance on the U.K.’s immigration policy. Morrissey and his legal team say that NME “deliberately twisted” his words, and that the unfair portrayal of him as racist has harmed his career and that he “continues to suffer” from fallout from the article. What Morrissey doesn’t mention is that perhaps he suffers from being perceived as racist on account of saying racist, unpopular things, like that the massacre in Norway was nothing compared to the fast-food industry, and that Chinese people are “a subspecies.” Oh, that Morrissey. [Guardian UK]

Morrissey Still Pursuing Libel Case Against NME for Calling Him Racist