Mani apologises to Peter Hook for Twitter rant

Mani has apologised unreservedly to Peter Hook, calling his Twitter rants against the former Joy Division and New Order bassist a "venomous, spiteful reaction" to personal difficulty. The former Stone Roses bassist said his attacks, which criticised Hook for allegedly exploiting Joy Division's legacy, were "totally out of character". Mani appears to have rejoined Freebass, the group comprising him, Hook and Gary Briggs. "I wish to apologise unreservedly to Peter Hook and his family regarding comments made on a social networking site, which was totally out of character for me. It was a venomous, spiteful reaction to a lot of things that are going on in my life right now and I chose to vent my frustrations and anger at one of my true friends in this filthy business, and ventured into territory which was none of my concern," said Mani. "The Freebass thing has tipped me over the edge and became the focus of my bilious rants. Twenty-two years of being tripped up, face down in the mud and being kicked in the face with an iron boot will do that to the most stable of men. I hope I haven't blown a great friendship forever. Sorry Pete." Freebass is a supergroup that once included former Smiths bassist, Andy Rourke, who left the group earlier this year . To his credit, Mani was able to find a silver lining around the dark cloud that was his decision to call Hook a "stupid wank". He said: "In a funny way, my outburst might make people want to check the record out." The Freebass album, It's a Beautiful Life, is released next Monday (20 September). Fortunately, as the release date looms, Hook appears to have forgiven Mani. "Mani is a great friend of mine and he always will be. I have the utmost respect for him as a person and musician. Have none of you ever fallen out with somebody you love?"