Many in the movie industry have been accused of complicity amidst the recent allegations concerning Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. Morrissey, the English singer, has gone and done what many friends of Weinstein and Spacey have sought to cover up: defended them.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been two prominent figures named as knowledgable of the accusations in the case of Harvey Weinstein. They knew, and saying nothing over the years has prompted those in the media to wonder if their silence protected their careers. Though the stars of Good Will Hunting have remained quiet, the English singer Morrissey threw his opinion into the ring during an interview with the German news outlet, Spiegel Online. He asserts that these allegations put too much emphasis on the accused, without enough scrutiny of the accusers.
“You have to wonder where the boy’s parents were,” Morrissey told reporter Juliane Liebert in the interview, referring to the fourteen-year old Spacey has been accused of harassing. The boy, who was fourteen to Spacey’s twenty-six, must have “had an inkling of what might possibly happen,” Morrissey continues.
The singer defends his thoughts by explaining that, to be in a situation similar to the women accusing Weinstein or men accusing Spacey, is not coincidence. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but in my youth I was never in situations like that. Never.”
Morrissey continues, saying that the mounting allegations against Weinstein are a result of a bandwagon effect, women changing their mind about a bad experience based on that of others. “In many many situations you look at the circumstances and you think that the person who is called the victim is merely disappointed.” Though Morrissey defends these two accused men, he makes his position clear, “I hate rape and I hate attack and I hate sexual situations that’s forced on a person against their will.” He does not feel however that the the cases of Weinstein and Spacey constitute this thing that he hates.
Morrissey concluded his thought-experiment by stating that most musicians have had underage sex, “so are you going to throw everybody in prison?”
If there was proof, Morrissey, then yes. The problem with these cases is that they too often fall into a format commonly called “he said/ she said,” in which limited evidence makes a ruling difficult to conclude. The ambiguous and public nature of these events have given other prominent figures an urge to chime in. Their words, appreciated or not, will not decide the outcomes of these two individuals. The accusers and accused should each have equal opportunity to speak their truths. Until then the public statements from unrelated individuals should be kept to a minimum, unless they involve substantial information, not mere opinion.
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