As the world pays tribute to Sinead O'Connor, former Smiths singer Morrissey has blasted the media over their lack of support for the singer while she was alive.
Sinead O'Connor passed away yesterday aged 56, with a cause of death yet to be confirmed.
The singer who had been troubled with mental health issues, had endured a difficult time recently following the death of her son Shane last year.
Tributes were paid to the late singer. Check them out here.
In a statement written to his website, Morrissey paid tribute to O'Connor, but also claimed that she was mistreated by the music industry, something which he claimed he can relate to.
“She had only so much ‘self’ to give", he wrote.
The singer continued, "she was dropped by her label after selling 7 million albums for them. She became crazed, yes, but uninteresting, never".
He also added, "She had done nothing wrong. She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only too well), and they are never praised until death - when, finally, they can’t answer back".
It was at this point that Morrissey then turned his anger towards the media, accusing them of hypocrisy in their praise of O'Connor when it is "too late". He claimed that they did not support her when she was alive.
“The cruel playpen of fame gushes with praise for Sinead today … with the usual moronic labels of ‘icon’ and ‘legend,” Morrissey wrote.
He also added, “You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you. The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold … and they would call Sinead sad, fat, shocking, insane … oh but not today!".
"Music CEOs who had put on their most charming smile as they refused her for their roster are queuing-up to call her a ‘feminist icon,’ and 15 minute celebrities and goblins from hell and record labels of artificially aroused diversity are squeezing onto Twitter to twitter their jibber-jabber … when it was YOU who talked Sinead into giving up … because she refused to be labeled, and she was degraded, as those few who move the world are always degraded".
Morrissey also compared O'Connor to women like Billie Holiday, Marylin Monroe, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston and Judy Garland, all talented stars who died due to issues with drugs and alcohol.
“Was this music madness worth Sinead’s life?,” Morrissey added. “No, it wasn’t. She was a challenge, and she couldn’t be boxed-up, and she had the courage to speak when everyone else stayed safely silent".
"She was harassed simply for being herself. Her eyes finally closed in search of a soul she could call her own. As always, the lamestreamers miss the ringing point, and with locked jaws they return to the insultingly stupid ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ when last week words far more cruel and dismissive would have done".
He also wrote, "Tomorrow the fawning fops flip back to their online shitposts and their cosy Cancer Culture and their moral superiority and their obituaries of parroted vomit … all of which will catch you lying on days like today … when Sinead doesn’t need your sterile slop".
It should be noted that a cause of death for O'Connor has yet to be confirmed.
