Food fight: Jimmy Kimmel ribs Morrissey for ‘dumb statements’

Morrissey may be the man with a thorn in his side, but Jimmy Kimmel has a message for the tortured British singer: Come make your “dumb statements” on my show.

Morrissey — former frontman for 1980s rockers the Smiths — canceled an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week because the guest list included the stars of “Duck Dynasty,” who created a business making duck calls used by hunters. Morrissey, a longtime vegetarian and animal-rights activist, said he couldn’t appear alongside people he considers “animal serial killers.”

Kimmel responded on Tuesday’s show by joking about Morrissey’s penchant for depressing songs, then added a mock video featuring the “Duck Dynasty” cast advertising a device that calls carrots.

The famously cranky singer, whose hits include “The Boy With the Thorn in His Side” and “How Soon Is Now?,” wasn’t laughing. He released a statement Wednesday that accused “our smiling host” of belittling depression and gun ownership and then closed: “Tune in and relive the intellectual fog of the 1950s.”

Kimmel’s response? “Note to Morrissey,” he tweeted late Wednesday. “If you have more dumb statements to make, I invite you to make them where I do, on my show.”

Uh-oh. Might be time to cue another Smiths song: “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish.”

What do you think of the Kimmel-Morrissey feud?

[For the record: Feb. 27: 4:43 p.m. An earlier version of this post, along with its headline and caption, referred to Morrissey as vegan. It has been updated to reflect that he is a vegetarian.]

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Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT