TMZ is reporting that Bradley Steyn, a former member of Morrissey’s security team, is suing the singer for firing him after he refused to entertain a plot to hurt David Tseng, the owner of Morrissey-Solo.com, a long-running fan site. Steyn claims that Morrissey inquired if there was a way that Tseng “could get hurt,” and whether he could be “gotten rid of.” Steyn further claims that when he refused to take part in the plot to hurt the fan, he was fired. (A crack on the head, because of the things you said!)
Morrissey’s feud with the site goes back more than 10 years, and the site launched more than six years prior to that. It became the go-to destination for Morrissey fans because it reported anything and everything to do with the singer, the good and the bad, the facts and the speculation. (As anyone who follows Morrissey knows, he likes to control what is written about him.) In 2003, the site published a rumor that Morrissey’s band and crew were not being paid, either on time or at all. Morrissey’s lawyers sent the site a cease-and-desist letter (which Tseng published), and Moz began referring to the site as “Morrissey So Low.” (Clever!) He even went so far as to wear a “Fuck Morrissey-Solo.com” T-shirt in concert, and to ban Tseng from attending his concerts for life. (Spineless bastards, all!)
Morrissey has yet to make a comment about the lawsuit (which has a perfectly good chance of being nonsense, we fully acknowledge). Presumably he’s typing up a missive right this moment, to be published on his “official” fan site/space for public declarations, True To You. (Are we all judged the same in the end? Tell me, tell me.)
UPDATE: Morrissey has responded, as expected, via a lengthy post on True To You. He claims never to even have met Bradley Steyn, and says that the story “is a vexatious lie.” Here’s a relevant chunk of the statement; you can read the whole thing at True To You:
“It is common knowledge that I dislike the SoLow site, and I am aware that all of the opinions posted on the site are controlled or written by David Tseng, and that David Tseng will give maximum and inexhaustive publicity to anything said in the negative about me. This is a general truth that most people accept about SoLow. It is nothing new, and I have long since learned to accept it.
The very idea that I would ask a complete stranger (Bradley Steyn) to physically attack David Tseng surely cannot register with any sane person as being likely. As mildly irritating as David Tseng may be, he is not someone who troubles me enough to even bother with.”