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Morrissey to put his case to a jury - perhaps
So Judge Tugendhat has allowed Morrissey to bring the four year old racism spat before a London jury.
Morrissey is excited:
In a written statement issued by his solicitor after the hearing, Morrissey said: "In 2007 the NME viciously attacked me and labeled me a racist and a hypocrite.The NME also says that it looks forward to the battle:
"Last week they sought to avoid facing me in court to settle the matter once and for all.
"I am delighted that the NME's attempt to stifle my claim was unsuccessful and that as a result I will be able to use the very public forum of the high court in London to clear my name, loud and clear for all to hear."
An NME spokeswoman said: "NME recently sought to strike out Morrissey's claim on grounds of a lengthy delay. After almost four years, we are glad that the matter will now proceed to trial and we will finally get the opportunity to bring this matter to a close."It's potentially a bigger risk for Morrissey than it is for the magazine - because if he loses, he'll actually have been proved a racist in court, which is the sort of thing it's hard to come back from, while, if he wins, he'll still have what he said, if not the NME's interpretation and selection, to contend with.
The biggest risk for the NME is that there might be a Smiths reunion at some point.
The judge himself says he wouldn't be surprised if matters get settled out of court.
3 comments:
Surely they will have a recording of the interview and that will settle it fairly quickly.
My understanding is that Morrissey's argument is that complaining, for example, you don't hear English spoken on the streets of London and describing England as having lost its identity to an immigration explosion isn't racist; he's not denying what he said, just how the NME interpreted and presented the remarks.
I can't help but think that Morrissey would do well to drop or settle.
There appear to be potential parallels with Oscar Wilde attempting to sue Lord Alfred Douglas for libel. This led to Wilde's ruin when he lost the case.
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