Steven Patrick Morrissey
Sometimes a simple apology is all it takes. Lengthy legal trials appear to have been avoided after British magazine NME decided to bite the bullet and apologise to former Smiths singer Morrissey for publishing quotes that, he claimed, made him look racist.
The article in question, titled "Morrissey: Big Mouth Strikes Again", was published in 2007 and featured quotes from Morrissey regarding his views on immigration.
"Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears…. the gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away," Morrissey was
quoted as saying.
According to the singer, the magazine "deliberately twisted" his comments on the issue, which led him to pursue a libel lawsuit against the magazine.
Now, NME has publicly apologised to the singer in a joint statement which
read:
"We wish to make clear that we do not believe that he is a racist. We didn't think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way. We never set out to upset Morrissey and we hope we can both get back to doing what we do best."
Morrissey and his legal team have accepted the apology, thus putting an end to a case which was set to go to trial next month.
"My client is obviously pleased that the NME have finally and publicly apologised to him. This claim was never about financial damages, and no money was sought as part of a settlement. The NME apology in itself is settlement enough and it closes the case," a statement from Morrissey’s lawyer
said.
NME magazine claimed they were pleased to have "buried the hatchet" with the singer, and that the case had come to an amicable close.
Morrissey was the former lead singer of British alternative rock band The Smiths, whose career took off during the early 1980s and grew over the release of several successful albums including
Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead, and their debut album,
The Smiths. Although the band split up in 1987, Morrissey has continued to make a name for himself in the British music scene, releasing several solo albums and most recently embarking on a worldwide tour which will be resuming in Europe next month.