Morrissey hails Britain's decision to leave the EU as 'magnificent'
'The British political class has never been quite so hopeless', singer claims
While the country is still torn over Brexit, and amid back-and-forths as to whether it will actually happen, one person who thinks the vote to leave the EU was not only the right decision but a “magnificent” one is Morrissey.
The former Smiths frontman is notorious for his no-holds-barred views on animal rights, the monarchy and politics. It was only a matter of time that he would offer his thoughts on Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in June.
Asked for his opinion on the currently political climate in the UK following Brexit compared to the 1980s, Morrissey let his feelings known, also bringing up the current US presidential race.
Morrissey's most controversial quotes
Show all 29
Morrissey's most controversial quotes
1/29 On racism
“If you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist?”
NBCU/Getty
2/29 On Lady Gaga
In an interview with Billboard, Morrissey calls Lady Gaga “nothing new” and says her style is “fraudulent, and the exact opposite of erotic.” He also refers to Madonna as “McDonna” and says Michael Bublé is “famous and meaningless”.
Getty Images
3/29 On dance music:
"It's the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people."
Getty Images
4/29 On London mayor Sadiq Khan
"London is debased. The Mayor of London tells us about 'Neighborhood policin' — what is 'policin’? He tells us London is an 'amazin' city. What is 'amazin'? This is the Mayor of London! And he cannot talk properly!"
Getty
5/29 On Madonna
“Madonna reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organised prostitution than anything else.”
Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images
6/29 On Beyonce:
"The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it's not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It's because of Beyoncé's handbags"
Buda Mendes/Getty Images
7/29 On animal cruelty in China
“You can’t help but feel that the Chinese people are a subspecies.”
Getty Images
8/29 On royal family:
"The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering"
Getty
9/29 On creativity:
On being creative: “I'd rather produce art than become art.”
Getty Images
10/29 On Prince Charles:
"I wish that Prince Charles had been shot. I think it would have made the world a more interesting place."
11/29 On sexuality:
"Unfortunately, I am not homosexual... In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course, not many."
Getty
12/29 On Bob Geldof:
"Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."
Getty
13/29 On growing old:
“Age shouldn’t affect you. You’re either marvellous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.”
Getty Images
14/29 On being alcoholic:
“Life would be so colourful if only I had a drink problem.”
GETTY IMAGES
15/29 On being sexy:
“I think I must be, absolutely, a total sex object. In every sense of the word.”
EPA
16/29 On music industry:
“I lost myself to music at a very early age, and I remained there.”
17/29 On Taylor Swift:
The maximum trimmings [at the Brits] divert your attention from the fact that Taylor Swift has nothing to do with Coventry or Wrexham. To pull off rank fraud in tellyland is not a difficult undertaking, especially if you have the entire population of Peru dancing around you as you mime your song."
Provided by Shore Fire Media
18/29 On grooming:
"I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong.”
Rex Features
19/29 On Elton John:
“He is pushing his face in all the time and telling us about his private life. Nobody's interested. He should just go away."
AFP/Getty Images
20/29 On charisma:
“I'm not very good at being dull."
Getty Images
21/29 On musicians:
“Artists aren't really people. I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.”
Getty Images
22/29 On love:
On romance: “I do think it's possible to go through life and never fall in love, or find someone who loves you.”
Getty
23/29 On failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher:
"The sorrow of the IRA Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed."
Getty Images
24/29 On the music addiction:
“Music is like a drug, but there are no rehabilitation centres.”
Associated Press
25/29 On vanity:
On vanity: “Well, I am an extremely beautiful person.”
Rex Features
26/29 On death:
"I have an unswayable obsession with death. If there was a magical pill that one could take that would retire you from the world, I would take it."
Reuters
27/29 On Kate Middleton
Morrissey links the suicide of a London nurse to the Duchess Kate Middleton. “There’s no blame placed at Kate Middleton, who was in the hospital for, as far as I can see, absolutely no reason . . . She feels no shame about the death of this woman. The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering.”
PA
28/29 On his legacy:
“When they bury me in a church and chuck earth on my grave, I’d like the words ‘Well, at least he tried’ engraved on my tombstone.”
29/29
Rex
1/29 On racism
“If you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist?”
NBCU/Getty
2/29 On Lady Gaga
In an interview with Billboard, Morrissey calls Lady Gaga “nothing new” and says her style is “fraudulent, and the exact opposite of erotic.” He also refers to Madonna as “McDonna” and says Michael Bublé is “famous and meaningless”.
Getty Images
3/29 On dance music:
"It's the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people."
Getty Images
4/29 On London mayor Sadiq Khan
"London is debased. The Mayor of London tells us about 'Neighborhood policin' — what is 'policin’? He tells us London is an 'amazin' city. What is 'amazin'? This is the Mayor of London! And he cannot talk properly!"
Getty
5/29 On Madonna
“Madonna reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organised prostitution than anything else.”
Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images
6/29 On Beyonce:
"The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it's not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It's because of Beyoncé's handbags"
Buda Mendes/Getty Images
7/29 On animal cruelty in China
“You can’t help but feel that the Chinese people are a subspecies.”
Getty Images
8/29 On royal family:
"The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering"
Getty
9/29 On creativity:
On being creative: “I'd rather produce art than become art.”
Getty Images
10/29 On Prince Charles:
"I wish that Prince Charles had been shot. I think it would have made the world a more interesting place."
11/29 On sexuality:
"Unfortunately, I am not homosexual... In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course, not many."
Getty
12/29 On Bob Geldof:
"Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."
Getty
13/29 On growing old:
“Age shouldn’t affect you. You’re either marvellous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.”
Getty Images
14/29 On being alcoholic:
“Life would be so colourful if only I had a drink problem.”
GETTY IMAGES
15/29 On being sexy:
“I think I must be, absolutely, a total sex object. In every sense of the word.”
EPA
16/29 On music industry:
“I lost myself to music at a very early age, and I remained there.”
17/29 On Taylor Swift:
The maximum trimmings [at the Brits] divert your attention from the fact that Taylor Swift has nothing to do with Coventry or Wrexham. To pull off rank fraud in tellyland is not a difficult undertaking, especially if you have the entire population of Peru dancing around you as you mime your song."
Provided by Shore Fire Media
18/29 On grooming:
"I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong.”
Rex Features
19/29 On Elton John:
“He is pushing his face in all the time and telling us about his private life. Nobody's interested. He should just go away."
AFP/Getty Images
20/29 On charisma:
“I'm not very good at being dull."
Getty Images
21/29 On musicians:
“Artists aren't really people. I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.”
Getty Images
22/29 On love:
On romance: “I do think it's possible to go through life and never fall in love, or find someone who loves you.”
Getty
23/29 On failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher:
"The sorrow of the IRA Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed."
Getty Images
24/29 On the music addiction:
“Music is like a drug, but there are no rehabilitation centres.”
Associated Press
25/29 On vanity:
On vanity: “Well, I am an extremely beautiful person.”
Rex Features
26/29 On death:
"I have an unswayable obsession with death. If there was a magical pill that one could take that would retire you from the world, I would take it."
Reuters
27/29 On Kate Middleton
Morrissey links the suicide of a London nurse to the Duchess Kate Middleton. “There’s no blame placed at Kate Middleton, who was in the hospital for, as far as I can see, absolutely no reason . . . She feels no shame about the death of this woman. The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering.”
PA
28/29 On his legacy:
“When they bury me in a church and chuck earth on my grave, I’d like the words ‘Well, at least he tried’ engraved on my tombstone.”
29/29
Rex
“The British political class has never quite been so hopeless, but the same can be said for the USA,” he told Australian music magazine Faster Louder. “What has happened is that news media can no longer attach any nobility to old-style politics because although politicians do not and cannot change, the people the world over have changed. What could be more grotesquely stupid than the Clinton-Trump coverage?
“As for Brexit, the result was magnificent, but it is not accepted by the BBC or Sky News because they object to a public that cannot be hypnotised by BBC or Sky nonsense. These news teams are exactly the same as Fox and CNN in that they all depend on public stupidity to create their own myth of reality. Watch them at your peril!”
Unlike the American channels Fox and CNN, both the BBC and Sky News are monitored by Ofcom and follow the regulator's impartiality guidelines.
The 57-year-old’s political leanings are not entirely surprising given a previous admission he rather admires one of the Leave Campaign’s most notable figures, Nigel Farage, and almost voted for Ukip.
“I like Nigel Farage a great deal,” he told Loaded in 2013. “His views are quite logical – especially where Europe is concerned.”
Representatives for the BBC and Sky News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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