“Cannibalistic” promoter speaks out against Morrissey

Earlier this week, Morrissey cancelled a concert in Iceland after the venue’s promoter refused to ban the sale of meat during his performance. Since labelling them as “cannibalistic” on his fan website ‘True To You’, the promoter has spoke out against Morrissey, claiming the venue were never asked about anything. Halldór Guðmundsson said:

“We were never asked about anything. I was never asked to speak to the restaurants here about whether they would serve meat on the night of the gig. There was no contract or anything. The date mentioned to us was towards the end of March. It’s totally his decision, but it was strange for us to read about it on the internet before we were asked about it.”

Plans to perform in the capital Reykjavik were scrapped altogether after no suitable alternative venue was available. Morrissey originally posted on True To You: “I love Iceland and I have waited a long time to return, but I shall leave the Harpa Concert Hall to their cannibalistic flesh-eating bloodlust.”

Lisa Hanson, manager and co-owner of the venue backed up Guðmundsson’s statement:

“We were just starting to look at venues for him and we thought [Harpa Concert Hall] would be good. The restaurant there is three floors up on the other side of the venue, it’s not like they sell hamburgers right outside. He said he didn’t want to play there and we said ‘fine’. It was never a date. It was never booked.”

A known vegetarian and animal rights activist, Morrissey walked off stage halfway through a performance in Poland last year and has previously pressured Los Angeles Staples Centre to offer “100 per cent vegetarian [food] with all McDonalds vendors closed down” at a concert in 2013.

Morrissey will play a six-date UK tour in March at the following venues:

13 Nottingham, Capital FM Arena
14 Bournemouth, International Centre
18 Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
20 Leeds, First Direct Arena
21 Glasgow, SSE Hydro
27 Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena

Tickets for the tour are on sale now. Click here for availability and further details.