Johnny Marr Says Morrissey’s Open Letter Was For Attention

Johnny Marr has opened up about his recent spat with Morrissey, saying that he felt he had to defend himself. 

In January, Morrissey posted an open letter online in which he asked Marr to stop mentioning his name in interviews.

“Would you please, instead, discuss your own career, your own unstoppable solo achievements and your own music? If you can, would you please just leave me out of it?,” he wrote.

Marr responded at the time with his own Instagram post, writing: “An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business… a bit 2021 yeah?”

Now, in a new interview with The Times, Marr has said he responded to Morrissey’s open letter because he felt he had to defend himself.

“When you’re attacked out of the blue, particularly in public, you have to defend yourself. The letter was designed to be insulting, wasn’t it? That has to have been the idea. If it’s something that’s not based in fact, you have to react in kind, which is just with ridicule,” he said.

“Look, it was about [his wanting] attention…and I’m getting a lot of it. I’ve got my new record coming out, and that’s getting attention too. All my solo records have,” he added.

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