Morrissey performs at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles | Kevin Winter/Getty Images Morrissey says Brexit voters victimized by media Former Smiths singer slams BBC for branding Leave voters as drunk racists.

The British media's depiction of those who voted to leave the EU as "racist, drunk and irresponsible" was unfair, according to the singer Morrissey.

The former Smiths frontman said he was "shocked" by the standard of reporting following the June 23 vote for Brexit, and singled out the BBC for criticism in an interview with the Israeli publication Walla!

“I am shocked at the refusal of the British media to be fair and accept the people’s final decision just because the result of the referendum did not benefit the establishment," he said.

“It was a shock to hear how the BBC persistently denigrated everyone who voted to leave. They have managed to accuse, judge and convict the majority as racist, drunk and irresponsible. On the other hand I did not hear the BBC question the decision of Remain voters."

“It just goes to show how the BBC, like Sky News and Fox News, did not really tell us the news, but tried to influence us with their opinions, which goes against the moral duty of the news networks.”

Morrissey's increasingly rightward pronouncements have caused many a Smiths fan to recoil in horror. In a 2013 magazine interview, he said: "I nearly voted for UKIP. I like Nigel Farage a great deal. His views are quite logical — especially where Europe is concerned." He's also called the Chinese a "subspecies" because of the country's record on animal rights, and likened the mass murder carried out in Norway by Anders Breivik to the slaughter of animals for fast-food restaurants.

Morrissey's former Smiths partner Johnny Marr was a vocal supporter of the Remain campaign ahead of the vote.