Morrissey defends Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, blames victims
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Morrissey performs at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware June 19, 2015. (Reuters)
The British singer Morrissey defended both Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein in an interview this weekend, claiming their alleged victims knew “exactly” what was going on — and chose to “play along.”
“Afterward, they feel embarrassed, or they do not like it,” Morrissey said while speaking to the German news outlet Der Spiegel.
“And then they turn it around and say: I was attacked, I was surprised, I was dragged into the room.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Spacey and Weinstein have each been accused of sexual harassment by more than a dozen men and women. The Hollywood heavyweights are scrambling to find supporters as more and more people come to the defense of their alleged victims.
Morrissey, however, is apparently in both men’s corner — calling the claims against Spacey “ridiculous” and blasting the countless women who’ve come forward and publicly named Weinstein as their abuser.
“People know exactly what’s going on,” Morrissey reportedly said after being asked about the movie producer. “And they play along…But if everything went well, and if it had given them a great career, they would not talk about it.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The former Smiths frontman added, “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 who is considered a victim is merely disappointed.”
The translation for Morrissey’s interview was reportedly posted on a fan page and then cited by the entertainment site, AV Club.
The 58-year-old appeared to do most of his victim blaming while discussing the allegations against Spacey.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“As far as I know, he was in a bedroom with a 14-year-old. Kevin Spacey was 26, boy 14. One wonders where the boy’s parents were,” he said. “One wonders if the boy did not know what would happen. I do not know about you, but in my youth I have never been in situations like this. Never. I was always aware of 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 that Spacey has been attacked unnecessarily.”
Morrissey, nicknamed Moz, has not responded to media requests for comment.
He was getting eviscerated by social media users over the weekend as word spread about his comments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I don’t understand how so much of what Morrissey sings is so beautiful yet so much of what he says is so ugly,” actor Chris Gethard wrote on Twitter.
“A Morrissey fan for 26 years, I’ve stood by him through bad records, frivolously canceled shows, ignored his dalliances w/ fascism…but sex abuse victim blaming? Defending a pedophile like Kevin Spacey? No. Just no,” another person said. “I’m going to eat a f–king cheeseburger. F–k you @officialmoz.”