Morrissey slammed for questioning Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein accusers

In a recent interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel, music legend Morrissey made several controversial statements, appearing to defend Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, and others facing allegations of sexual harassment.

“I hate rape, I hate assault, I hate people being forced into a sexual situation,” said Morrissey, according to the published interview. “But in quite a few cases, you look at the situation and think that the people being described as victims are simply disappointed. In the whole history of Rock ‘n’ Roll there’ve been musicians who’ve slept with groupies. If you go through the history, almost everyone is guilty of sleeping with minors. Why don’t we throw everyone in jail?”

Addressing Kevin Spacey’s headlines specifically, the 58-year-old former frontman of The Smiths called it “laughable” that Spacey was cut from All The Money in the World for Christopher Plummer. Morrissey also questioned Anthony Rapp, who was the first person to go on record with allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey.

“You have to ask, where were the boy’s parents. You ask yourself, if the boy didn’t know what could happen. I don’t know what it was like for him but in my youth, I was never in a situation like that. Never. It was always clear to me what could happen. If you’re in someone’s bedroom, you have to know where it could lead. That’s why I don’t find the whole thing very believable. It seems to me Spacey has been unnecessarily attacked,” he said.

The comments continued still when Morrissey began speaking about Harvey Weinstein, again questioning the large number of women who have now come forward against the producer.

“Those people knew exactly what would happen [when they went up to Weinstein’s hotel room], and they played along. Afterwards they were embarrassed or they didn’t enjoy it,” he said. “And then they turn it around and say: ‘I was attacked, I was surprised, I was pulled into the room.’ But if everything went well, and it helped them to a big career, they wouldn’t be talking about it.”

Morrissey has already received plenty of backlash for his numerous comments. Read a few of the reactions below. Reps for Morrissey did not immediately respond to request for comment.