Morrissey’s manager slams ‘The Simpsons’

Morrissey’s manager issued a scathing statement Sunday slamming “The Simpsons” for depicting the English rocker in a “hurtful” and “hypocritical” light.

Sunday’s episode of “The Simpsons” saw 8-year-old Lisa adopt an imaginary friend inspired by the fictional Quilloughby — a former member of the British band The Snuffs.

Fans couldn’t help but notice the animated character (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) and his uncanny resemblance to Morrissey. The former frontman of The Smiths is known for lyrics and imagery that reflect his views on animal rights and other hot-button issues.

Titled “Panic on the Streets of Springfield,” a riff on the 1986 Smiths song “Panic,” the “Simpsons” episode poked fun at Morrissey’s penchant for droll commentary.

Morrissey seemed flattered at first by the homage, promoting the episode on his Facebook page prior to its Sunday premiere.

After its debut, however, Morrissey’s team took issue with how the episode portrayed an older version of the character.

“That’s right, I hate the foreign!” Quilloughby shouts while firing a meat gun at the crowd before performing a solo track called “Refugees? Again?” Watching his future self alongside Lisa, imaginary Quilloughby laments, “Is this what I turned into? I’m greedy, I’m hateful, and my face looks like a syphilitic moon!”

In 2021, the sequence reads like a commentary on xenophobic and racist remarks made in recent years by Morrissey, who has called Chinese people “a subspecies,” mocked London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s accent and spoken out against liberal immigration policies.

“Poking fun at subjects is one thing,” read a post on Morrissey’s official Facebook page written by his manager, Peter Katsis.

“But when a show stoops so low to use harshly hateful tactics like showing the Morrissey character with his belly hanging out of his shirt (when he has never looked like that at any point in his career) makes you wonder who the real hurtful, racist group is here,” Katsis wrote.