Johnny Marr's Management response to Morrissey's allegations (September 17, 2024)

A statement from Johnny Marr's management:

Recent statements made by Morrissey on his website regarding the trademark of
The Smiths' name are incorrect.

Here are the facts:

In 2018, following an attempt by a third party to use The Smiths' name - and upon
discovery that the trademark was not owned by the band - Marr reached out to
Morrissey, via his representatives, to work together in protecting The Smiths' name.

A failure to respond led Marr to register the trademark himself.
It was subsequently agreed with Morrissey's lawyers that this trademark was held
for the mutual benefit of Morrissey & Marr.

As a gesture of goodwill, in January 2024, Marr signed an assignment of joint
ownership to Morrissey. Execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign.

In the interests of accuracy and clarity regarding the trademark, and to answer
recent reports that Marr ignored a promoter's offer to tour as The Smiths, Marr says:

"To prevent third parties from profiting from the band's name, it was left to me
to protect the legacy. This I have done on behalf of both myself and my former
bandmates."

"As for the offer to tour, I didn't ignore the offer - I said no."

Additionally, speculation about Johnny Marr touring with a different singer as
The Smiths is not true. There are no such plans.

Johnny Marr also confirms that he declined a suggestion for another greatest hits
compilation from Warner Music Group given the number already in existence.

---

Related items:

• Morrissey Central: "THE PLOT THICKENS" - September 15, 2024
• Morrissey Central: "SMITHS NOT OK" - September 11, 2024
• Morrissey Central: "WAR IS OLD, ART IS YOUNG" - August 29, 2024

 

[Cornflakes]

Some of the name-calling and personal attacks on this site is a bit over-the-top, and there are some people who have become so bitter that they will celebrate every mistake Morrissey makes.

There may be some of that, but I think it's mainly that people find these episodes grimly comical, at Morrissey's expense. There's nothing to celebrate in any of this, really.

 

[Amy]

Are they still friends? No.

Has Morrissey blatantly attempted to bury the hatchet, only to be rebuked by Marr? Yes.

Has Marr actively and publicly made cold, sarcastic, disparaging comments in Morrissey's direction? Yes.

Has Marr purposefully distanced himself from Morrissey publicly and professionally? Yes.

Does Morrissey not refer to himself by his own last name? Yes.

Don't many journalists refer to Marr as "Marr" in articles? Yes.

Marr responds with a statement from attorneys, but Morrissey is the cold and distant one?

Oh OK, cool. Gotcha.

This whole post is so wrong-headed that I barely know where to begin.

Firstly, I wasn't referring to Morrissey directly but other fans using 'Marr' in the petty sense that he did, that's why I said I know that he does it etc. I know why he was doing it, it just grates on me when fans copy that in such a childish way. See also: Johnny boy, Johnboy Marr, Saint John of Marr, and other silly nicknames used by the dimmer bulbs here.

No, Morrissey did not try to bury the hatchet. He accepted a third party offer because it was 'lucrative', which he must have known was absurd precisely because they weren't friends and weren't on speaking terms. What kind of olive branch is that? Would you reconcile with a former friend or ex-wife on the basis that they publicly ordered you to because they wanted a pile of cash? He didn't even speak to Johnny. And he did this, according to Johnny's statement, whilst ignoring (or being unaware of) the assignment document as well.

Then, because a cash-grab was rejected, he tried to smear Johnny and cast him as a villain based on paranoid, ill-informed, bad-faith assumptions, only to be look silly when the truth came out. A sincere attempt to heal old wounds involves acting like an adult, Skylarker - you know, acknowledging and apologising for ills on both sides, trying to reach a compromise, being polite, answering your legal emails. Not putting someone on blast because they don't give you what you want, like a 65-year old toddler.

Morrissey using his own surname is his preference, which is why I compared the Marr thing to calling him Steven. Surely I shouldn't have to spell that out.

Yes, Johnny has distanced himself, and this episode has shown exactly why he was right to do it. Morrissey has made himself look like a paranoid fool who has no grasp of his own legal affairs and a poor relationship with reality. He tried to bully and belittle Johnny into accepting the reunion offer, in front of the whole world, then lost the plot when it didn't work. Not the behaviour of someone who wants to be friends again, really.

You swallowed M's paranoid guff without waiting for the facts and now the trademark stuff has been exposed for the inaccurate tosh that it is, you're still going. Have some self-respect. A real olive branch, now, would be an apology from Morrissey for making inaccurate claims about the trademark and for trying to wage 'war' based on bad-faith assumptions about Johnny's actions. Followed by co-signing the joint ownership document and not 'ghosting' reasonable legal requests like an overgrown baby. As others have said, Johnny lifted this mess out of the gutter calmly without trying to 'smear' back.

 

[Johnnie Ray]

View attachment 111578

Wait a cotton pickin' second! Unlistenable at best, a travesty at worst? Everyone knows unlistenable is worse than a travesty!

 

[JerryCan]

The Grauniad article was hopeful. Seeing the mention of hell freezing over for Oasis and the Eagles makes you wonder if one day, somehow...
This recent aggro has just made things re "The Smiths" clearer, albeit in an exhausting way. M&J's estrangement/connection is unchanged. Maybe if Johnny's commitments were to ever slow down, or Jesse packed up his plectrums we could still be surprised. For some special cause or something. For the fans?

 

[Lujan369]

As a relatively new fan of Morrissey, I accept that Johnny is right, he in my opinion did very well to take care of the band's name legally, as M did not respond to his emails and neither did the lawyers. Morrissey is hurting himself, with this rebuttal issued by J Marr, Moz is in a very bad place... very sunk. Morrissey should seriously reflect on this, and at least accept accepting that he was wrong in the handling or not handling of the issue of the name The Smiths, if he lied it is horrible and if he did not know how things were then he did not take care of his career.... There are many things that come together and the word DISAPPOINTMENT for me grew a lot in capital letters. Sad that he boycotts himself and sad because there are people who really don't love him and that's why those people always say yes to everything..., or don't advise him with appreciation..... MOZ THINKS AND ACCEPTS DEAR ACCEPT THAT YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, THOSE ATTITUDES of Acceptance WILL RELIEVE YOU AND VINDICATE YOU

 

[blah blah]

Every single Johnny Marr composition by 'The Smiths' is valid without a single word or vocal melody added by Morrissey.

The same cannot be said of acapella versions consisting purely of Morrissey's vocals.

Johnny Marr could construct and conduct his Guitar Orchestra along the lines of the late Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra and tour for decades generating a new audience...but he's a rocker so probably won't abandon the band format.

Other than the mentally disturbed core cult here: would anyone sit through 'The Acapella Smiths' featuring Morrissey?

Morrissey is easily the most phoney 'pop star' ever to have duped the public. But...we see you, Steven...it's over...

BrummieBoy

Most phoney? That is funny. Morrissey is alot of things, but he is far from phoney. He actually more true to himself than any pop star on the planet to his own detriment.

 

[Crisstti]

The depressing alternative is that Moz is using recent political tactics i.e. even if the lie is soon exposed, the impact of that lie registers with those who wish to ascribe malign motives to the 'enemy' party.

"Recent"?

 

[The Wild Turkey]

Not sure some of these folks
even listen to Moz's music.
He went ahead and told ya he
was a practicin' troublemaker.

 

[Juan Dulces]

I really hate how much Morrissey reminds me of Trump these days

Morrissey certainly was acting in a reactionary way about this, I"ll give you that. But, like other people of a certain age, he may have been kept in the dark or gaslighted about some or all of this, because he does have the BOT related-drama to preoccupy him, for one example. Johnny's statement, showing nothing seems sinister on his part about what transpired, was refreshing and came at a good time. All of us adopted (so to speak) by The Smiths LOVE The Smiths and like many of you, I didn't appreciate the recent hubbub. However, I also never exactly believed what Morrissey was saying and had an inkling that there was more to follow. Morrissey made a statement, yes, but how informed he was on this subject could be open to debate. Regardless, Morrissey should apologize for the statement he made, because he either was uninformed or was simply mad about the large sums being turned down (by Marr) to reunite.

Additionally, I hope I don't need to be worried about Morrissey being paranoid. I do think that our man is in a rough spot right now, and time feels limited. Tp that extent, maybe to Morrissey self-releasing BOT might seem like a very complex/daunting task. He needs to put himself in a better place, get himself stronger. He may have been drinking heavily while he wrote the statement, just like he might have been upset at Marr's 'anti-reunion' choice, and he should apologize.

 

[blah blah]

I am likely one of the oldest Smiths/Morrissey fans here.

What I find strange it that some people here feel you have to either hate Morrissey, or if don't then you just don't know him and are a newbie fan. It doesn't have to be either.

I personally have witnessed this recent trainwreck and feel it is sad. A grown man like Morrissey should know better. However I don't know what he is going thru. I am not Morrissey and who am I to tell him how I believe he should act?

For instance, Morrissey political opinions. Many of them I agree with and some I don't, but I laugh at all the people that criticize him for them because he is just being true to himself, and spewing hate at him because you don't agree is the same behavior you are trying to condemn him for? If you don't agree when you think he spews hate, then why you doing it?

Also a lot of it is overblown. When I was at the recent Vegas show there was an Asian guy behind me that keeping saying loudly "Morrissey is a racist and he hates Asians". For one, why you even there? For 2, I'm sure he was talking about when Morrissey said Asian were a sub-species, however it was said that in the context of their behavior in slaughtering seals. Not a racist statement. Point here is I'm sure this guy never read the statement, just repeating second hand what other say. I see a lot of that on here as well.

Now as a long time fan, I feel bad that Morrissey and Marr can't BOTH be grown men and put their differences aside to reform that most important group in pop history. While Morrissey does instigate, Marr is not without fault. Marr's digging at Morrissey in interviews, letting his son badmouth Morrissey, and posting stupid memes is just as bad of behavior as Morrissey is displaying. Marr is no saint. Facts are, without Morrissey, there would be no Marr (a vice versa). They should be thankful for their contributions to each others lives.

Finally, some of you on here... I wonder why you are here. The Marr solo comment is so true. Why waste your time coming on a forum to ONLY complain about a person. Don't you have lives to attend to? If you hate him so much, then you would be better served spending your time elsewhere, but strangely you don't. Instead, you come back here day after day which only really says you love Morrissey just as much as the rest of us no matter how bad he acts. I may dislike Morrissey trajectory, but am forever changed by his contribution to my life and for that I will always be grateful. I'm not going to be like others and call him names of disrespect. Instead i'm just going to hope that it gets better.

 

[Eldritch]

The Guardian article is a precise summary of the whole debacle, but it assumes that all fans want a reunion. But I don't. This whole reunion culture is a drag. If the tour would lead to recording some worthwhile new material, that would be welcome, but it very rarely does. The Stone Roses came back a decade ago with big promises but after several tours they managed to release only two very lacklustre singles. Suede on the other hand are now working on their fifth post-reunion album and all four albums so far have managed to bear comparison with their classic works. But they are a rare exception.

Morrissey has decades been adamant that The Smiths would never come back. So it's very depressing that now when his own career is faltering, suddenly a reunion seems like an enticing prospect for him. Don't do it, guys! Nothing good will come out of it.

 

[Redacted]

Having recently turned down a reported £2.5m offer to reform the Smiths for a one-off show, he drew a line under the prospect of a reunion. "It has been 18 years since it ended; I don't know them, they don't know me, they know nothing about me, I know nothing about them. Anything I know about them is unpleasant, so why on earth do we want to be on stage together making music?

“I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian.” (Uncut, 2006)

 

[blah blah]

I think you're wrong, me and 4.8 million other viewers:

Just because people watched it doesn't mean they like it. I've seen it and while the music is good, the vocals do not compare to Morrissey in the slightest. Wouldn't pay to see it live.

 

[Rufusindigo]

The Guardian article is a precise summary of the whole debacle, but it assumes that all fans want a reunion. But I don't. This whole reunion culture is a drag. If the tour would lead to recording some worthwhile new material, that would be welcome, but it very rarely does. The Stone Roses came back a decade ago with big promises but after several tours they managed to release only two very lacklustre singles. Suede on the other hand are now working on their fifth post-reunion album and all four albums so far have managed to bear comparison with their classic works. But they are a rare exception.

Morrissey has decades been adamant that The Smiths would never come back. So it's very depressing that now when his own career is faltering, suddenly a reunion seems like an enticing prospect for him. Don't do it, guys! Nothing good will come out of it.

But maybe for some of us it would be equally or more important to know that JM/M have kissed and made up, whether or not they ever play together again. I think that is the emotional appeal of many of these big reunions to the public - they symbolize that people who were once at each other's throats have healed their relationships. It's more about being a succesful human being than a succesful musician.

 

[Eldritch]

But maybe for some of us it would be equally or more important to know that JM/M have kissed and made up, whether or not they ever play together again. I think that is the emotional appeal of many of these big reunions to the public - they symbolize that people who were once at each other's throats have healed their relationships. It's more about being a succesful human being than a succesful musician.

That is indeed a different thing. I gain no pleasure of them being at war against each other.

 

[sparacus]

Lol. Don’t know why you just assume I’m searching for negative Marr aspects. If you believe that Marr having said no to the Wolverhampton gig looks negative on Marr, then that’s on you, because I didn’t say or see Marr’s saying no as a negative.
In your initial post, you attacked Morrissey by accusing that the Wolverhampton gigs were all about him, and I replied that the shows were not all about him, that it was in fact a Smiths farewell gig. The only bigmouth striking again and again is you.

The 1988 Wolverhampton gig was a Smiths farewell show in all but name. The other Smiths all took part but Marr refused. It then became a source of footage for Morrissey’s next single.
Marr refusing to take part does reflect badly on him because it reinforces the messy break up of the Smiths. Marr walked out of the band after a meeting in a cafe where Joyce urged him to stay for one more album. No explanation was offered by Marr to fans and he later blamed it all on Morrissey by implying that he’d ‘prematurely’ told the NME that Marr had left the band when it is clear that Marr was planning to leave the band. Morrissey was left to pick up the pieces and deal with the finances. They had just arranged a great new record deal with EMI, so Marr had denied the others the chance to record a great new album for a major label.

 

[April Snow]

“I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian.” (Uncut, 2006)

This was 18 years ago - people are allowed to change their mind .................

 

[Grim Reaper]

The Smiths is just a band in the end, Marr wasn't in a good place and needed to quit for his mental wellbeing.

Marr didn't owe the rest of the band anything, when it gets to that point, it's just music and you pick what's more important. The rest of it, the politics and who is more to blame doesn't matter. Morrissey might have been innocently being Morrissey as usual, but Marr couldn't take it anymore and that's all that counts, he had done more than his share of the work.

 

[Redacted]

“I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian.” (Uncut, 2006)

This was 18 years ago - people are allowed to change their mind .................

I never said he couldn't change his mind, but Johnny is allowed to say no

 

[Bertrand]

That’s just what we needed, thanks, Johnny.

Still I wonder what happened that he refuses to consider working together as The Smiths (in June, prior to the whole ‘affair’) and refuses to cooperate in working on a new Smiths comp.

How does he see the future? There’s bound to be more offers and more demand for a new comp.

Why would anyone ever need another Smiths compilation?