Jimmy Kimmel Fights The Smith’s Morrissey On Animal Rights, Guns And Depression

Jimmy Kimmel planned to have both Morrissey and the cast of Duck Dynasty on his Tuesday night show, but Morrissey canceled, leading Kimmel to take comedic aim.

Morrissey canceled his appearance on the late-night talk show due to his strong feelings about the rights of animals. A&E's Duck Dynasty represents what he continually fights against, as the show revolves around a Louisiana family that has made its fortune selling all things related to duck hunting – decoys, duck calls, etc.

Apparently, Kimmel’s bookers didn’t think it was that big of a deal to have two guests that were so ideologically different about animal rights. Yet, if they looked at all into Morrissey’s history, they probably could have guessed that the Duck Dynasty cast appearing with him wouldn’t go over well. In fact, he once demanded that the Staples Center in Los Angeles be a meat-free zone the night he was performing there. He also co-wrote the Smiths song “Meat Is Murder.”

Morrissey declared that he’d have to cancel his appearance unless the Duck Dynasty family, “people who, in effect, amount to animal serial-killers,” were removed from the program. Kimmel was unmoved by Morrissey’s grandstand, saying on Tuesday night, “There’s a very good reason why I didn’t dump Duck Dynasty. It’s because they have guns, and Morrissey doesn’t.” The host went on to recommend Morrissey suspend all TV appearances in the name of his animal activism.

Kimmel didn’t stop there, even after he stated that Morrissey “keeps finding ways to depress us.” Not one to pass up the chance to poke fun at the performer, he enlisted his Duck Dynasty guests in a gag ad featuring the duck hunters blowing into carrot callers. Upon hearing the call the carrots would leap out of the dirt and into their mouths. The ad ends with the jab, “I love yuppie food.”

Not impressed, Morrissey released a statement Wednesday afternoon. “I was disappointed with last night’s Jimmy Kimmel show,” he said. “Wherein our smiling host managed to ridicule depression (70% of Americans suffer from depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health).

“He then found time to ridicule healthy eating (the obesity epidemic in the U.S. costs $147 billion per year in medical expenditure), and he also ridiculed the notion that animals should be entitled to the possession of their own lives,” wrote Morrissey.

Kimmel has called Morrissey's statements "dumb," according to the Los Angeles Times.