Better think twice before calling socially awkward former Smiths front man Morrissey a racist. Responding to allegations that statements he made in the New Musical Express were "anti-immigration," Moz today published a lengthy takedown of the British music rag in the Guardian. He claims he was the victim of a "deliberate" attempt by the magazine to characterize him as a racist "in order to boost their dwindling circulation."

In an interview he gave to NME last week, Morrissey is quoted as saying, "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more British identity disappears. So the price is enormous," adding later, "If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are." Sweden and Germany are overwhelmingly white, whereas Morrissey's England is seemingly filled to the brim with millions and millions of Indians, Pakis, and other swarthy, altogether unsavory characters and/or terrorists.

In his rebuttal in the Guardian, Morrissey writes, "I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic ... Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society." He also claims that the interviewer, Tim Jonze, was an "endless fidget" who didn't even know who David Bowie was, and that the magazine is out to get him because he refused to accept their "Godlike Genius" award on two separate occasions. Jonze, for his part, tried to get his name taken off the piece because he wasn't pleased with how it was "re-written."

This isn't the first time Moz has been accused of racism in the pages of NME. In 1992, he came under fire for parading around on stage draped in a Union Jack flag as images of skinheads were displayed behind him.