Morrissey’s website, Morrissey Central, went live on the 28th March 2018.
It’s run by his nephew, S.E.R, a photographer.
Aside from the occasional interview with Morrissey or a statement with Morrissey’s name and the date, most of the content is taken from social media.
By this point, Morrissey, had already been completely dehumanised by the press and on social media, and had been labelled a racist pariah. Central seemed to be scrabbling around for support, finding it on the hard right with the Spectator, the Post Millennial, the National Review, and alt-right YouTubers.
The site has James Baldwin on the landing page and a list of animal charities they’d like you to support, which doesn’t appear designed to further white supremacy.
But, it attracted the attention of Far Right activists already excited by the amount of times they were being told by the press that Morrissey rants against immigration, is an extreme English ethno-nationalist, and hates black people.
Morrissey’s oldest friend, James Maker, wrote a defence on Facebook – that indicated Morrissey was coming from a left-wing perspective – one that had concerns about human rights clashes within identity politics.
Is Morrissey a racist? The answer is an emphatic ‘no’. In the forty years that I have known Morrissey, I have never once heard a racist epithet pass his lips. The terms ‘racist’, ‘fascist’, and ‘Islamophobe’ are so freely used nowadays against those whose opinions and worldview differs from our own, that they have lost their power and meaning. Also, there is a worrying trend on the Left that, ironically, echoes fascism in its intolerance of reasoned debate. One is not only ‘wrong’ in expressing a different opinion, but one is also now ‘evil’. I believe that calling Morrissey a racist is unjustifiable and wrong. However, if you want to run out of the house wearing a garment ill-suited to the elements in order to throw Viva Hate into the Manchester Ship Canal, then that is, of course, your right. In supporting Brexit, this does not make Morrissey an immigrant-hating ‘Little Englander’ who lives only to reverse the metric system and bring back steam trains. The truth is, there are myriad reasons why people voted to leave the EU. One of them is a mistrust of Brussels technocracy where unelected representatives make decisions that are arguably a matter for sovereignty. Patriotism and Nationalism are very distinct: the former is characterised by an affection for one’s country; the second is a more extreme and unforgiving form of allegiance to one’s homeland. Morrissey might be guilty of patriotism, but not of nationalism. Opposing Sharia Law in the UK, or FGM, or institutionalised misogyny—which is (trigger warning) widespread in the developing world—is an appropriate Western response borne of democracy and the development of civil liberties. It is neither racist nor Islamophobic. After all, if I were to move to the United Arab Emirates in search of a better life, I wouldn’t reasonably expect to be able to build a hot dog stand empire, serving pork products whilst dressed in a gender-neutral miniskirt. To oppose halal slaughter is to oppose slaughter with additional cruelty. The zakat tax payable for Halal certification is used by Islamic organisations to fund mosques and religious schools. Such is the many-tentacled nature of zakat, it is difficult to determine whether it is also being used to crowdfund Islamist extremism. There is a growing concern in some quarters that it might be. Hitler was indeed ‘Left-wing’ in the sense of incorporating the word ‘socialist’ into the party’s name to cynically draw voters away from communism and towards populist nationalism dressed as socialism. Hence, ‘Hitler was Left-wing.’ Morrissey was not suggesting that Hitler and Yvette Cooper (for example) share the same political ideals. The fact is, Left-wing totalitarianism looks little different to Right-wing authoritarianism — if you’re being oppressed, it’s the same experience. Again, is Morrissey a racist? My answer is an emphatic ‘no’. (James Maker, Facebook Post, 26 April 2018)
On the 30th May 2019, the Guardian, published yet another roundup of why Morrissey is despicable with Finsbury Park – the gig where Morrissey was the target of a homophobic hate crime that resulted in him being the only artist in British history to be branded a racist by the press for touching a Union Jack – as its keystone.
Waving the union jack during his show at Madness’s Madstock festival in Finsbury Park, London, in 1992, felt like a more aggressive move (this was before Britpop’s Cool Britannia-era reclamation of the flag, and its association with the far right was still strong). And it was done in the knowledge that the Madness crowd contained a significant fascist/skinhead element. (Tim Jonze, the Guardian, 30 May 2019)
Again, James Maker, defended him on Facebook.
In support of Morrissey: The truth is, there is a hate campaign which is artificial, fabricated and does not reflect the views of real people: people who attend concerts and buy records. ‘For Britain’ is repeatedly described as a ‘far right-wing party’, when it isn’t. It is run by an irish lesbian who opposes patriarchy. People are murdered on London Bridge, or children destroyed by nail bombs at concerts, or….the list is legion….There is a very much a problem linked to extremist Islam: its 21st-century core beliefs are still affirmatively anti-feminist, anti-LGBT, and anti-democratic. This is NOT anti-Muslim; it is anti-undemocratic; anti-patriarchy; anti-religious extremism. Morrissey was a contrarian in the 1980s and 1990s. and who saved many people’s lives—as many hundreds avow—through the messages of his songs., In 2019, he is still a contrarian. Yet, in the UK, he is a hate figure whom a British newspaper is bent upon destroying. For a person who could have given such pleasure to millions, over the years, this is very sad, indeed. (James Maker, Facebook Post, 1 June 2019)
On the 3rd of June 2019, Central posted a link to an article by Fiona Dodwell, that responded to the Guardian article, and concluded with:
Using an old image of the former Smiths frontman from 1992, in which he is depicted onstage holding a Union Jack, Jonze asks his readers, “True Colours?” As if beholding a flag of one’s own country is somehow a barbaric act, rather than one of pride. Where were the offended writers when Geri Halliwell made headlines by wearing her Union Jack dress on stage? Or are we to set different standards for different public figures? (Fiona Dodwell, Tremr, 2 June 2019)
On the 28th June 2019, rapper Stormzy, headlined at Glastonbury wearing a Union Jack vest.
On the 29th of June 2019 neo-Nazi, Morgoth, made a video comparing the positive reaction to Stormzy’s Union Jack (which he claimed was promoting multiculturalism) to the negative reaction to Morrissey’s Union Jack (which he claimed was promoting white pride). It was posted on YouTube, where it’s now set to private, and on Bitchute.
Morgoth and his circle had been trying to link themselves to Morrissey.
Central is known to post things that have been recommended to them.
On the 30th of June 2019 Central posted the video from YouTube, without comment, under the title Nothing But Blue Skies For Stormzy… the Gallows for Morrissey.
Morrissey has never mentioned Stormzy or Morgoth. Central posted a picture of Kirsty MacColl on the same night and then nothing until July 8th when Morrissey penned a sweet tribute to Blue Rondo.
Morrissey doesn’t speak to the media and isn’t on online so the post would have limited reach if Billy Bragg hadn’t spread the word as part of a public campaign to have Morrissey ostracised, something easily achievable in private, since he’s extremely isolated within the industry.
Naturally, Finsbury Park was brought up.
Which he’d also used to call Morrissey a hypocrite for being against the flag-waving jingoism of the London Olympics.
His campaign had started before the video.
And no one in the UK arts and media establishment has decried the Spectator’s TV critic, James Delingpole, for having Morgoth on his podcast.
During the pandemic, SER, became and anti-vaxxer and posted videos and memes that were against lockdowns, masks, and vaccine passports.
… Morrissey’s official website, which is increasingly reading like the work of a conspiracy-driven right-wing nutjob. (Ryan Leas, Stereogum, 16th November 2020)
On the 27th October 2021, Central posted two far right talking points in the same week they were circulating on the far right. One was a story about animal cruelty in vaccine labs, from Tucker Carlson at Fox News, the other was opposing vaccine mandates, from alt-right YouTuber, Tarl Warwick aka Styxhexenhammer666 (the 2nd video is now unavailable).
On the 27th July 2022, they posted a video by white supremacist, Black Pigeon Speaks, linking Morrissey’s song about the Manchester Bomb, Bonfire of Teenagers, to mass immigration. This was seemingly in response to a thread on Morrissey Solo where it was argued that the lyrics of Bonfire meant that there wouldn’t be a scandal about immigration. Black Pigeon had been posted on Solo on the 25th of July 2022 by Listening Loud, an unregistered user. https://shorensteincenter.org/anatomy-of-alt-right-youtuber/
On the 30th July 2022, Carl Eric Scott, a hard right Republican, published a substack on Bonfire of Teenagers that claimed it was a suppressed song, was about mass immigration and Islamism, and falsely stated that Morrissey had supported the far right anti-Islamic street protest group, the English Defense League. It was posted anonymously on Morrissey Solo on the 31st July 2022. And ciruclated on social media.
.. it is said he is racist, or “culturally racist,” or culturally insensitive, because he… voiced support for a group called the English Defense League, the EDL, back in 2013, and a few of its members were later proved guilty of physical attacks on non-whites… (Carl Eric Scott, Substack, 30 July 2022)
On the 28th July 2022, Morrissey made a statement about Your Arsenal that cited “opinions” without saying what those opinions were.
It was a time when singers such as I were made successful by the people. Now, a harmony of all interests and opinions is not allowed in modern music, and this is why the music world is now dominated by singers whom most of the world cannot stand. We are trained to expect nothing from modern music. There are no modern songwriters of whom we can say ‘no one but you could have written that song.’ There are no modern songwriters to whom we can say, ‘you’ve really hit on something.’ All that happens depends on something already achieved by somebody else. Consequently, there has never been a time when people so desperately need a true projection of how life really is. From “Your Arsenal” to “Bonfire of Teenagers” I know that music remains more permanent than life. But there is far more to fight against now, in a music industry that allows only for one opinion everywhere. “Your Arsenal” in its 30th year tells me that we have nourished each other for a very long time, and we have come a long way together in a truly different and elevating journey. If I know, you must know. (Morrissey, Morrissey Central Instagram, 28 July 2022)
All of his statements go through Central.
On the 10th of October 2022 Central posted a link to a review in The Spectator that used Morrissey as a jumping off point to talk about Islamic terrorism. The headline, Morrissey is right about the Manchester Arena Bombing was changed to ‘Morrissey is the Rock’n’Roll Rebel We Need’. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/morrisey-is-right-about-the-manchester-arena-bombing/
On the 28th October 2022, Breton La Villain, posted a Daily Mail article by Richard Littlejohn, that used the Spectator article about Morrissey to talk about Islamic terrorism, as well as being negative about immigration, animals, the poor and enviromentalists. Breton wrote that it made Morrissey out to be ‘far right’. https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/daily-mail-morrissey-article-bonfire-of-teenagers-manchester-bombing-october-27-2022.150168/
On the 29th of October 2022, Central posted it under the title, ‘Turnabout’. https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/turnabout
On the 27th of October 2022, Michael Edison Hayden, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, tweeted that American white nationalist website, VDare, was raffling tickets to see Morrissey in Washington.
VDare is against South American immigration to the United States; most of Morrissey’s band and his LA fanbase are South American. It’s also homophobic and transphobic, so it’s unlikely they’d support him if they actually knew him – but a mix of his press coverage and Central’s posting habits, is attempting to sell him to the American far right with a story pieced together from the NME’s lies.
He believes England is a distinct place that comprises a distinct people, reprehensible as they may be. But because his audience is large, loyal and international (he’s huge in Mexico!), he can galvanize opposition to non-white mass immigration without fearing cancellation… Notwithstanding his reckless blasts at Margaret Thatcher and Donald Trump, Morrissey is a patriot. Still making excellent records—California Son and I Am Not a Dog on a Chain—he is determined to defend England. And he’s pointing a finger at the left, where it belongs, for trying to destroy it. We Americans might be asking, “Where’s our Morrissey?” (Carl Horowitz, Vdare, 15 October 2022)
Folk Devil 