'Mystery': Twitter account verification scrutinized after authenticity of @ItsMorrissey questioned

I wonder who's behind the @itsmorrissey account? And how did they manage to get it verified when it's apparently not genuine?!

— U2 Three Chords (@U2ThreeChords) May 16, 2014

There was a lot of buzz after word got out that singer Morrissey had supposedly joined Twitter.

https://twitter.com/itsmorrissey/status/466651029879418880

https://twitter.com/itsmorrissey/status/466688743936520194

And then it got confusing.

Rolling Stone cited the former Smiths singer’s “quasi-official fan club site,” which published a quote attributed to Morrissey saying the @ItsMorrissey Twitter handle is “bogus.”

However, at the time of this post’s publication, the account still has a blue “verified” check mark:

And if you click on the blue “verified” check mark, you’re taken to the Twitter FAQ page, where this explanation appears:

So what’s going on? Opinions vary:

https://twitter.com/cornax/status/467408689834762240

Morrissey's VERIFIED twitter account @itsmorrissey is in fact NOT MORRISSEY it has been revealed.
I can't trust anything anymore :(.

— Sarah May (@sarahmaymc) May 16, 2014

https://twitter.com/sorrowwaited/status/467407809005768704
https://twitter.com/kittynoise/status/467381541010952192

Yes it's verified but Morrissey says @itsmorrissey is actually not: http://t.co/VpKqVEMzxZ

— Matthew T. Hall ??✊ (@SDuncovered) May 16, 2014

Morrissey says 'verified' Morrissey account (http://t.co/tczFi1n7Sg) is bogus. Waiting for the verified @itsmorrissey account to verify.

— Ryan Voyles (@RVVoyles) May 16, 2014

https://twitter.com/WiIIett/status/467371864281853953

I can’t deal with this Morrissey Twitter mystery. That acct has been verified for years with news, but they deleted all the old posts.

— Evie Nagy (@EvieN) May 16, 2014

@EvieN it was originally the label, and it was obviously the label this time as well. I knew it wasn't him…

— Ron Richards (@ronxo) May 16, 2014

@ronxo Right—the mystery is that his statement today says it’s a new account falsely opened in his name. But it’s not!

— Evie Nagy (@EvieN) May 16, 2014

There are all sorts of possibilities, but for now the mystery of who’s behind @ItsMorrissey remains unsolved.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct an error in the quote from Rolling Stone. The publication referred to Morrissey’s “quasi-official fan club site,” not his “quasi-official website.” Twitchy regrets the error.

This post has been updated with additional tweets.