After much controversy surrounding Morrissey’s interview with German publication Der Spiegel, the raw audio has officially been released.
The singer made headlines in November for alleged comments defending Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein and saying he would kill Donald Trump if given the chance. Morrissey took to social media on Monday to defend himself, slamming the accusations and vowing never to speak to print media again. The unedited interview comes in the wake of the singer’s claim that the request for “unchopped, unfiddled-with audio” was rejected.
In the interview, the former Smiths frontman calls Donald Trump “a danger to global security.” When asked if he would press a button to make Trump “drop dead,” Morrissey replied, “I would, for the safety of the human race.”
As for the topic of the sexual harassment scandals in Hollywood, Morrissey said of Weinstein: “Rape is revolting, and any kind of physical attack is revolting – but we must keep it in perspective, otherwise everybody on the planet is guilty of everything.”
On Kevin Spacey particularly, the singer showed understanding for both Spacey and the 14-year-old who accused him of assault. “You have to wonder where the boy’s parents were,” he said.
“If you were in somebody’s bedroom you’d have to be aware of where it could lead to and you’d have to say ‘Why are we here? Why aren’t we downstairs on the lobby?’ So it doesn’t ring quite true to me and it seem to me that he has quite unnecessarily attacked,” he continued.
Listen to the full 43-minute interview here.