Morrissey Pursues Libel Claim

The judge hearing Morrissey’s claim for libel against NME will likely want to hear good reason why it’s taken four years for the maverick singer to pursue the matter.

Under English law, there’s a time limit of 12 months for taking legal action for libel, slander or malicious falsehood, although the courts have discretion to extend this in specific circumstances.

The action the former Smiths frontman is bringing refers to an article NME published in 2007, in which he was quoted saying an “immigration explosion” was leading to Britain losing its national identity.

Morrissey’s legal team told the High Court Oct. 17 that the singer “continues to suffer” from the damage the controversial interview did to his reputation.

In a written submission, Morrissey said his comments received “a barrage of press” at the time and also pointed out that the question marks over him being a racist “have never since receded.”

Catrin Evans, acting for the magazine, told the court the claim should be struck out on the grounds that Morrissey dropped the complaint for three years before recently deciding to take it up again.

“The court can infer from this that there has been such a delay that this is not a genuine bid for vindication,” she explained. “The claim simply didn’t figure at the forefront of his mind.”

Morrissey originally threatened legal action against the magazine in November 2007, days after the interview was published.

Evans claimed that Morrissey “by his own actions” has continued to provoke more recent accusations of racism, citing a 2010 interview in The Guardian in which he described Chinese people as a “subspecies.”

“The fact that Morrissey has spent the three years since March 2008 recording albums, touring, promoting his new work and presumably doing well enough commercially to be able now to contemplate funding this libel claim, shows that his reputation has been unaffected. His fans apparently still love him,” she said.

Should Justice Tugendhat, Britain’s most senior libel judge, decide to allow the claim to go to trial, Morrissey, former manager Merck Mercuriadis, former NME editor Conor McNicholas, and Tim Jonze – who did the 2007 interview – may all be required to give evidence.