southdevon herald express online - Muse regret in drug claim row (october 18 2000)

Muse lead singer Matt Bellamy was "horrified" by reports that he had made sensational allegations about "corrupt" police officers. The comments, made in a music industry newspaper, were reportedly taken out of context and were based on a hypothetical situation, vocalist Matt has claimed. Devon and Cornwall Police have now completed their inquiries into Matt's claims that "corrupt" officers in the band's home town of Teignmouth are making money from drug sales. Detective Inspector Neil Treaby, of Devon and Cornwall Police's professional standards unit, said: "There is no evidence to support the claims." Muse manager Dennis Smith said Matt, who with the rest of the band Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard is about to start an Australian tour, had given his own personal, hypothetical selections for the NME's Heroes and Villains feature. Dennis said: "It was supposed to be a hypothetical situation and Matthew was horrified when I brought it to his attention. "He did want to take issue with the journalist concerned. Unfortunately they are not always in control of how their comments are interpreted. "Matt regrets the way things were translated. "This is a learning curve for all of the band. They were suddenly thrust into the limelight and are learning all the time." Despite the controversy over the interview, the band are playing to fans across the world. Following five successful concerts in Japan, they are about to play dates in Australia before heading back for a show in Dublin and on to Helsinki and Scandinavia. The delighted band are also celebrating two nominations for the prestigious Q magazine awards, where they are up for best new band and best album. Friday sees a pre-recorded live performance show on the BBC's Top Of The Pops programme. Their album has sold 500,000 copies and they have already written five tracks for a new album. Dennis added: "I am extremely excited about the tracks for this new album and there are potentially two amazing singles. These are very exciting times for the band and the new material is superb." See also the two other full articels [southdevon herald express 29-07-00 Police force not ‘mused' by Matt claim ] and [NME.com - Matt is not amused (october 2000)] NME

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