Lucifer Sam
الموت لأمريكا
They were all under a lot of pressure - with a truly evil activist pitching them for years on end. So, yeah - it was going from the fanbase, to the crew, to Morrissey.
I like your term, "the crew." For the film version of your conspiracy theory, Michael Rapaport plays Morrissey. "Yo, yo, where my crew at?" Enter Sam and Johnny, teenagers in hoodies and backwards baseball caps, scrolling 4chan on their phones. "Okay, good deal, here's my homies. Where you been? What you got for me today, boys? What's in the news? What are the fans sayin' on the internet?"
Michael Rapaport dialogue pretty much writes itself.