Morrissey Defends Kevin Spacey And Harvey Weinstein, Saying Victims Should’ve Known What Could Happen

Dan Balilty/Morrissey

Morrissey Defends Kevin Spacey And Harvey Weinstein, Saying Victims Should’ve Known What Could Happen

Dan Balilty/Morrissey

Hey look, Morrissey said a stupid thing! It’s been a while since Moz has said something truly objectionable and not just, like, “Oh, Morrissey is kind of an asshole.” But now, in an interview with the German news outlet Spiegel Online on the heels of his new solo album Low In High School, he’s come through with some genuinely terrible opinions. After warming up with some light banter about Trump, Brexit, and the BDS movement, Morrissey really starts to go off the rails as soon as he’s asked if he’s been following the the #MeToo campaign and the debate around sexual harassment in Hollywood:

To some extent, yes, but then it became a play. All at once everyone is guilty. 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 relations. If I can not tell anyone that I like him, how should he ever know? Of course, there are extreme cases, rape is disgusting, every physical attack is repulsive. But we have to see it in relative terms. Otherwise, every person on this planet is guilty. We can not permanently decide from above what we are allowed to do and what we can not do. Because then we are all trapped. Some people are very awkward when it comes to romance anyway. They do not know what to do and then their behavior is aggressive.

Here’s what he had to say specifically about Kevin Spacey:

As far as I know, he was in a bedroom with a 14-year-old. Kevin Spacey was 26 and boy 14 was wondering where the boy’s parents were. One wonders if the boy did not know what could happen. 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.

And here’s his take on Weinstein:

People know exactly what happens. 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. I hate rape. I hate attacks. I hate sexual situations that are forced on someone. But in many cases, one looks at the circumstances and thinks that the person referred to as a victim is merely disappointed. Throughout the history of music and rock ‘n’ roll there have been musicians who have slept with their groupies. If you go through history, almost everyone is guilty of sleeping with minors.

All of this was translated from German using Google Translate, so it’s not verbatim. But unfortunately, I don’t think these shitty opinions can be blamed on bad translation alone.

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