Morrissey - Morrissey Apologises For 'Difficult' Interview

The former The Smiths frontman recorded a chat with O'Leary which was broadcast on Bbc Radio 2 on Saturday (30Apr11).

During the interview, he branded the recent royal wedding "dreadful" and criticised other Bbc presenters before making a series of prickly comments about O'Leary, telling listeners, "He doesn't listen - he gets paid all this money."

He also told the presenter, "There is just something about your face that says 'Please lie to me and I will believe you'", prompting O'Leary to later tell the singer, "(You need to) listen and not just wait for your chance to talk."

The interview ended with a tense exchange in which O'Leary said, "It's been really difficult but I've enjoyed it", with Morrissey replying, "You don't rule the world, Dermot."

Morrissey has now issued a statement apologising for his attitude during the interview and admitting he was in a "foul mood" following the royal wedding and the death of punk icon Poly Styrene last week (25Apr11).

He writes, "I'm sorry I made the (Dermot) O'Leary radio interview so difficult but I was in a foul mood, having spent a full week surrounded by the royal dreading (sic). England may very well be a Windsor dictatorship, but - Pr Weddings aside, it is usually quite bearable...

"During the week of the royal dreading, Poly Styrene died. Having made an enormous contribution to British art and sound - at a desperate time when so many of us needed her - Poly Styrene's death was all but ignored by the British television news media, who instead rained hours and hours of blubbering praise onto Kate Middleton - a woman about whom nothing is known on a personal level. The message is clear: What you achieve in life means nothing compared to what you are born into. Is this Syria?"