Johnny Marr Says Morrissey Failed to Protect the Smiths’ Legacy

Why pamper life’s complexities when you can read a scathing Johnny Marr rebuttal instead? The guitarist has issued a missive against his former Smiths bandmate Morrissey days after the latter claimed Marr successfully applied for full trademark rights and intellectual property ownership of the Smiths’ name — which meant he could, if interested, tour under the band’s name with a new vocalist. “To prevent third parties from profiting from the band’s name, it was left to me to protect the legacy,” Marr said in a statement provided to Vulture. “This I have done on behalf of both myself and my former bandmates.” In response to Morrissey’s allegation that Marr never acknowledged a recent lucrative offer to reunite the Smiths for a world tour in 2025, Marr added, “As for the offer to tour, I didn’t ignore the offer. I said no.” (Translation: There’s not enough money in the world to entice him.) Marr also has “no such plans” to tour as the Smiths with a different singer. The remainder of the statement, from his management team, reads:

Here are the facts. In 2018, following an attempt by a third party to use the Smiths’s name — and upon the discovery that the trademark wasn’t owned by the band — Marr reached out to Morrissey, via his representatives, to work together in protecting the Smiths’s name. A failure to respond led Marr to register the trademark himself. It was subsequently agreed with Morrissey’s lawyers that this trademark was held for the mutual benefit of Morissey and Marr. As a gesture of goodwill, in January 2024, Marr signed an assignment of joint ownership to Morrissey. Execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign. 

So when you lose your pen and descend into a tailspin? That’s a Morr-ay.