Morrissey continues beef with Jimmy Kimmel

And since that headline wasn’t vegan, Morrissey might soon start feuding with us!

It all began when the “Meat Is Murder” singer canceled his scheduled appearance on Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, citing his moral qualms with being on the same program as the mallard-hunting stars of A&E’s Duck Dynasty. This prompted Kimmel to take some swipes at the former Smiths frontman in his opening monologue.

“While I respect his stance on this, I really do, there’s a very good reason why I didn’t dump the Duck Dynasty guys for Morrissey,” said the comedian. “And that’s because they have guns.” Kimmel also added, “He keeps finding new ways to depress us,” referring to Morrissey’s “Pope of Mope” reputation. On top of that, the host also aired a parody video for “a new Duck Dynasty product for vegans.”

Naturally, Moz was not amused by any of this and released the following statement:

“I was disappointed with last night’s Jimmy Kimmel [Live] wherein our smiling host managed to ridicule depression (70% of Americans have experienced depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health). He then found time to ridicule healthy eating (the obesity epidemic in the U.S. costs $147 billion per year in medical expenditure), and he also ridiculed the notion that animals should be entitled to the possession of their own lives. Furthermore, he found time to jokingly promote gun-ownership — hugely amusing for the parents at Sandy Hook, no doubt. He also promoted his special guests Duck Dynasty — who kill beings for fun. None of the above issues are, of course, as important as Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has finally revealed his show to have an overwhelming loss of meaning. Tune in and relive the intellectual fog of the 1950s.”

Kimmel saw Morrissey’s move and, on his show last night, countered with an offer:

“This has nothing to do with people who eat meat versus people who don’t. I’m completely respectful of people who do not eat meat, but the statement he made is ridiculous. I’d like to invite him to join the show to discuss. I’m an open, even-handed person, and I consider all points of view.”

Kimmel followed that up by tweeting, “note to Morrissey — if you have more dumb statements to make, I invite you to make them where I do, on my show.” He included in the tweet a link to the cover art for Morrissey’s 2004 album You Are the Quarry, which featured the singer wielding a machine gun.

Elsewhere, Morrissey chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about his upcoming stint at L.A.’s Staples Center, where he made sure to keep meat consumption to a minimum. When Paul McCartney’s attempt to make the Staples Center go vegetarian came up, the famously anti-monarchist “Irish Blood, English Heart” singer suggested Sir Paul should return to being just Paul.

“I was amused to hear that Sir Paul McCartload [sic] was very angry that Staples had said yes to me but no to him, when really, he should be happy for any victory on behalf of the animals. I know he works tirelessly for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], but he also loves the British royals, whose treatment of animals is abysmal. The Queen herself wears enough fur to blanket most of Russia. He also once sang ‘Give Ireland back to the Irish,’ which was directed at the Queen. Well, she refused, and she still refuses, yet Sir Paul gives her the thumbs up! If he cared passionately about animals, he’d return his knighthood. He doesn’t need the Queen’s approval. He’s given more pleasure to people worldwide than she could ever dream of.”

God bless America.

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