For many celebrities, especially those of an older generation, the term ‘cancel culture’ is often thrown around as a shield against criticism. British comedy stars like John Cleese have used cancel culture to explain the decline in their media careers. Speaking in October of 2022, Cleese claimed that ‘cancel culture’ was the cause for his lack of screen time, despite having just secured an hourly slot on GB News. Much like Cleese, British Post Punk pioneer, Stephen Morrissey has taken to his personal website to claim that there has been “an obvious media shift to delete me from being the central essence of The Smiths”.
On morrisseycentral.com, The Smiths’ frontman’s personal blog, Morrissey stated that, “I invented the group name, the song-titles, the album titles, the artwork, the vocal melodies, and all of the lyrical sentiments came from my heart … and so it’s a bit like saying Mick Jagger had nothing to do with the Stones.” Grandiose comparisons to Mick Jagger aside, Morrissey believes that other ex-Smiths members are taking credit for his work. In reference to the Smiths’ 1983 signing to Geoff Travis’ Rough Trade records, Morrissey said: “Several news sites now claim that the initial meeting at Rough Trade Records was with “Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke,”. Morrisey’s website lacks any citation or direct reference to the “several news sites” he mentions. A quick google search will reveal that Wikipedia and several major news publications credit both Morrissey and Marr with the signing.
While the specific claims made by the 64-year-old singer may be unverified, it is true that many fans and industry veterans have turned their back on Morrissey. However, rather than a result of greedy ex-band-members, Morrissey’s poor reputation is the result of his right-wing political opinions. Although The Smiths’ original material expressed relatively progressive messaging around class, the monarchy, and organised religion, Morrissey’s more recent affiliations with far-right politics has pushed him away from the mainstream.
In a 2019 performance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, the singer wore a badge that featured the logo of the now-defunct For Britain Party. For Britain was a far-right fringe party led by Anne Marie Waters that promoted an anti-Islamic, anti-immigration policies which was host to ex-members of the British Nationalist Party (BNP) who were deemed too extreme for the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Speaking with Fiona Dodwell on blogsite Tremr in 2018, Morrissey expressed sympathy for Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, saying: “it’s very obvious that Labour or the Tories do not believe in free speech… I mean, look at the shocking treatment of Tommy Robinson”. For those who don’t know, Tommy Robinson is the far-right nationalist founder of the English Defence League (EDL), who has been convicted of multiple crimes that include assault of a police officer, ownership of a false passport, and the stalking of a journalist.
Morrissey has an esteemed past and a solidified position in British music cannon which will never change however, Morrissey’s claim of “cancel culture beings at home” mirrors that of many allegedly disgraced celebrities whose politics frequently land them in hot water. It is not ex-band-members who are tarnishing the legacy of the Smiths, but it is instead the reactionary far-right politics which he continues to promote.
