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

 

[Lujan369]

He is both a liar and brutally honest at the same time, the latter I like but sometimes he goes too far. What would be missing to add as a defect of poor Moz is that he is very very self-centered and that turns against him is like.. that is loved and hated. Moz you must find peace within yourself. Your mind thinks you badly, your mind points out the worst things about you. You are being thought by your ego. We love you fans but.. We want to see a new version. Moz needs a reset. Be less proud and more empathetic, clarify some things such as cancellations, which according to him were a fiasco. To give an example

 

[No 27]

There is so much to be proud of. Few can touch it. Possessing peace of mind, quality of life and agreeing only to undertakings most enjoyed may inform a future mindset to transcend ungracious squabbles, increasingly a defining behavior of this dark era, against which, for so many for so long, The Smiths were a bulwark. Let The Smiths live on.

"Possessing peace of mind, quality of life and agreeing only to undertakings most enjoyed may inform a future mindset to transcend ungracious squabbles, increasingly a defining behavior [sic] of this dark era, against which, for so many for so long, The Smiths were a bulwark."

What the Universal Credit is this supposed to mean? What do you think it means?

I know you fancy yourself as somewhat well-read -- and that you'd love, above all, for anybody else to think so too -- but your writing is f_cking atrocious. Stop trying so hard; you're only making it worse.

Add this website to your "favorites".

Maybe add this to your reading list while you're at it -

 

[Skylarker]

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.

K

 

[blah blah]

The people in the gay community who would appreciate his acknowledgement and support probably disagree. That would hurt his career but farm animals? He is there for them, 100%

You think it would hurt his career to say he is gay? Doubt it. Most people already know that or assume it. Also he is more likely Bi if anything.
However you don't have to identify as something to be true to yourself. If fact just the opposite. Having to indenfity as something usually means your insecure, so you have to tell everyone i am this or that. How about you are just you without having to declare anything?
Also Morrissey has no responsibility to acknowledge or support anything.

 

[Johnnie Ray]

You think it would hurt his career to say he is gay? Doubt it. Most people already know that or assume it. Also he is more likely Bi if anything.
However you don't have to identify as something to be true to yourself. If fact just the opposite. Having to indenfity as something usually means your insecure, so you have to tell everyone i am this or that. How about you are just you without having to declare anything?
Also Morrissey has no responsibility to acknowledge or support anything.

He just comes off as being ashamed or not true to himself. Most marginalized people who break through and achieve success want to help those who come after them. I guess Morrissey isn't one of those people.

 

[Roman Holiday]

He just comes off as being ashamed or not true to himself. Most marginalized people who break through and achieve success want to help those who come after them. I guess Morrissey isn't one of those people.

What do you think he "owes" to the gay community? He was plenty gay in his aesthetic at a time when it wasn't as accepted as it is now. Anyway, the gay rights movement has progressed remarkably in the last 40 years without Morrissey being a militant partisan for it, whereas animals are being tortured and slaughtered in great numbers than ever before thanks to people like you. If it comes to down to advocacy for the marginalized and defenseless, Morrissey chose the more pressing concern.

 

[Anonymous]

What do you think he "owes" to the gay community? He was plenty gay in his aesthetic at a time when it wasn't as accepted as it is now. Anyway, the gay rights movement has progressed remarkably in the last 40 years without Morrissey being a militant partisan for it, whereas animals are being tortured and slaughtered in great numbers than ever before thanks to people like you. If it comes to down to advocacy for the marginalized and defenseless, Morrissey chose the more pressing concern.

Eating animals is a 2,000 year old human reality, unfortunately. Genetics are destiny and not all ethnic groups can thrive on a vegan diet, nor can many of the the 100s of millions of people with digestive or malabsorbtion disorders. There is a world beyond the solipsistic bubble of wealthy middle class Westerners who like to preach to the disadvantaged, and many who inhabit the African and Asian continents have more pressing concerns than a wealthy white pop star's objection to abattoirs. When their farm is their livelihood, what will they and their country's supply chain do without it? All we can do is ensure more humane practices.

and besides, nothing on Earth tastes as good as a greasy kebab when you're getting a quick one off the wrist from a lady you just met in the bus station at 3am.

 

[Was I ever any good]

We need to have a night out

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

You think it would hurt his career to say he is gay? Doubt it. Most people already know that or assume it. Also he is more likely Bi if anything.
However you don't have to identify as something to be true to yourself. If fact just the opposite. Having to indenfity as something usually means your insecure, so you have to tell everyone i am this or that. How about you are just you without having to declare anything?
Also Morrissey has no responsibility to acknowledge or support anything.

You must be relatively new. It has long been established that both Morrissey and I are fourth-gender humasexuals.

 

[Roman Holiday]

Eating animals is a 2,000 year old human reality, unfortunately. Genetics are destiny and not all ethnic groups can thrive on a vegan diet, nor can many of the the 100s of millions of people with digestive or malabsorbtion disorders. There is a world beyond the solipsistic bubble of wealthy middle class Westerners who like to preach to the disadvantaged, and many who inhabit the African and Asian continents have more pressing concerns than a wealthy white pop star's objection to abattoirs. When their farm is their livelihood, what will they and their country's supply chain do without it? All we can do is ensure more humane practices.

and besides, nothing on Earth tastes as good as a greasy kebab when you're getting a quick one off the wrist from a lady you just met in the bus station at 3am.

Slavery was a 2,000-yr+ "human reality," too, but I doubt many people would consider that a justification for it. I don't think "the disadvantaged" are being preached to in particular, especially since meat consumption in Africa and Asia is less than where it is in the West. In the case of myself and Johnnie Ray, it's one middle class American to another.

Anyway, the poor are less likely to be wasteful with what little they have, so at least their exploitation of animals is less gratuitous than it is in wealthier countries with their expiration dates and thrown-away portions, and where the remains of a half-eaten kebab lie under a bus seat after someone who can make light of animal suffering recently received a handjob.

 

[Famous when dead]

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

View attachment 111628

Jesus Christ, she’s there in the replies. Unsure if the political divide between Morrissey and Marr is real or a media creation. Is she unsure which shoe goes on which foot in the morning, too?

 

[Johnnie Ray]

What do you think he "owes" to the gay community? He was plenty gay in his aesthetic at a time when it wasn't as accepted as it is now. Anyway, the gay rights movement has progressed remarkably in the last 40 years without Morrissey being a militant partisan for it, whereas animals are being tortured and slaughtered in great numbers than ever before thanks to people like you. If it comes to down to advocacy for the marginalized and defenseless, Morrissey chose the more pressing concern.

He was a lot less gay during his commercial peak of 1988-94.

 

[Roman Holiday]

He was a lot less gay during his commercial peak of 1988-94.

I guess you could say he was somehow "less gay" when he was writing songs about rent-boy polari, wearing gold lamé shirts, and dancing like a dancing queen among the desert rocks in a music video.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

He was a lot less gay during his commercial peak of 1988-94.

Weren’t we all, dear..?

 

[Johnnie Ray]

I guess you could say he was somehow "less gay" when he was writing songs about rent-boy polari, wearing gold lamé shirts, and dancing like a dancing queen among the desert rocks in a music video.

 

[Thewlis]

Big chance they chatted about Moz, too

 

[Gray Fruit]

Big chance they chatted about Moz, too

Hence the uproarious laughter.

 

[Phranc & Open]

Good to have friends.

 

[Young And Alive]

Good to have friends.

Be mad, be rash...