Last night (May 13), Morrissey played his cover of Jobriath’s “Morning Starship” on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” During the performance, he wore a pin featuring the logo of the For Britain Movement, a far-right UK political party founded by anti-Islam activist Anne Marie Waters. He has also come under fire for wearing the pin at recent concerts. (The For Britain Movement has thanked Morrissey for his support on its website.) Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Morrissey and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” for comment.
Morrissey has been vocally supportive of For Britain in the past. In a 2018 interview, he said, “I have been following a new party called For Britain which is led by Anne Marie Waters. It is the first time in my life that I will vote for a political party. Finally I have hope. I find the Tory-Labour-Tory-Labour constant switching to be pointless. For Britain has received no media support and have even been dismissed with the usual childish ‘racist’ accusation. I don’t think the word ‘racist’ has any meaning any more, other than to say ‘you don’t agree with me, so you’re a racist.’ People can be utterly, utterly stupid.”
On May 24, Morrissey will release his new covers record California Son, which features collaborations with Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, and more. Broken Social Scene’s Ariel Engle, who guests on the album, has said she was unaware of Morrissey’s political views when she agreed to sing on the LP. “The inflammatory things he says are not my politics. I think he’s completely out of line,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been had, but it’s my fault.”
https://pitchfork.com/news/morrissey-wears-far-right-political-party-pin-on-fallon
