More about: Morrissey

NME have issued an apology to Morrissey in the dispute over a 2007 interview which offended the former Smiths frontman for seeming to suggest he was a racist.

Morrissey took legal action against the magazine following the publication of the interview, titled Morrissey: Big Mouth Strikes Again', claiming that it portrayed him as a racist.

The case has been in and out of court ever since but today marks the first time either side has sought to end the trial with NME issuing an apology for any perceived idea that the interview suggested Morrissey was racist.

The statement from the music magazine reads: "In December 2007, we published an article entitled 'Morrissey: Big mouth strikes again'. Following this, Morrissey began proceedings for libel against us. His complaint is that we accused him of being a racist off the back of an interview which he gave to the magazine. He believes the article was edited in such a way that made him seem reactionary.

"We wish to make clear that we do not believe that he is a racist; we didn't think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way. We never set out to upset Morrissey and we hope we can both get back to doing what we do best."

Morrissey previously claimed that he would end his case for libel if he were to receive an apology from the magazine.

More about: Morrissey