Morrissey has ruled out future interviews with print media after German newspaper Der Spiegel published quotes where he appeared to sympathise with Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein.

The former Smiths frontman made headlines after he appeared to defend Spacey, claiming he had been "attacked unnecessarily" over claims of sexual assault and calling the allegations "ridiculous".

He also seemed to question the legitimacy of the accusations, saying: "As far as I know, he [Spacey] was in a bedroom with a 14-year-old. One wonders if the boy did not know what would happen. I do not know about you, but in my youth I have never been in situations like this. Never. I was always aware of what could happen.

"When you are in somebody's bedroom, you have to be aware of where that can lead to. That's why it does not sound very credible to me. It seems that Spacey has been attacked uneccessarily."

He also claimed that people "know exactly what's going on" and suggested some alleged victims of sexual assault were "just disappointed" that they had not been given "a great career".

Morrissey later appeared to try and backtrack on his comments in an interview with The Times, and claimed that sexual harassment could be "a pathetic attempt at courtship".

Then, performing at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago on 25 November, he was shown in a video clip telling the crowd: "I did an interview a couple of weeks ago for a German newspaper and, of course, let me just say this: That was the last print interview I will ever do."

He added: "Unless you see the words form in my mouth and then you see or hear the words come out of my mouth... please, if you don't see that, I didn't say them."