Fans of Taylor Swift were in disbelief when rumours surrounding her new romance with Matty Healy began making their rounds on the Internet. Matty has been in the spotlight since 2002, fronting his band ‘The 1975.’ The English pop-rock band has had multiple hits, however, Matty’s reputation amongst the public is severely tarnished. He has consistently grabbed attention through his involvement in racist remarks and offensive jokes. Amongst other things contributing to perpetuating hate speech, the British musician has managed to offend individuals from Black, Chinese, Muslim, Hawaiian, Inuit and more communities with his problematic words. Amid his claims of being a righteous individual championing noble causes, Matty has gotten into trouble numerous times in his career spanning 21 years. ___Dissecting every Matty Healy controversy is a challenging task. But here are some that shouldn’t be buried under his dating rumours with American popstar Taylor Swift.
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Beginning with the recent controversy, Matty and his friend Nick Mullen appeared on The Adam Friedland podcast this February where he laughed at multiple racist remarks against Ice Spice made by the host of the show. Referring to the Bronx rapper as an “Inuit Spice Girl,” the host also called her a “chubby Chinese lady.” They then further go on to openly mock Hawaiian and Japanese accents in the podcast. The podcast was ultimately removed from Spotify and Apple Podcasts. But the scandal was reignited when the rapper collaborated on Taylor’s recently released track, ‘Karma.’ He apologized to Ice Spice later during his concert saying he doesn’t want the artist to think he is mean since he is her fan now, “sorry if I’ve offended you Ice Spice. I’m sorry.”
here’s matty’s “apology” to ice spice while the band plays corny music in the background. 😬 #SpeakUpNow #KarmaRemix #MattyHealy pic.twitter.com/i4Bf86EkMo
— holly 🌼 (@thatsthefunofme) May 24, 2023
Matty has repeatedly spoken out on gender issues at concerts, saying, “If I can help plant the seeds of women’s rights, secularism, free conscience now, I can hopefully help to empower them mentally and make them know how to deal with things.” But in the same podcast, Matty nonchalantly revealed he consumes hardcore adult content which fetishises the abuse of Black women contradicting this statement. The site he mentions is known to have content degrading women of colour.
When asked about the podcast in an interview for The New Yorker, Matty responded that his insensitive comments do not matter. As interviewer Jia Tolentino suggests that his words might carry weight due to their provocative nature, the singer replied, “if it does, you’re either deluded or you are – sorry – a liar. You’re either lying that you are hurt, or you’re a bit mental for being hurt. It’s just people going, ‘oh, there’s a bad thing over there, let me get as close to it as possible so you can see how good I am.’ And I kind of want them to do that, because they’re demonstrating something so base level.”
Most of his problematic remarks come from his now-deleted Instagram and Twitter accounts. He once took to Twitter to equate being a Muslim to being in ISIS. When questioned about his tweet by a young Muslim woman, he responded that he refuses to be educated by a “Harry Styles fan account.” Matty is openly anti-religion and isn’t afraid to voice out his thoughts in interviews. Despite claiming to have issues with all religions, he has prominently named Islam many times. Among his numerous Twitter rant, his most infamous one is where he generalised all Muslims as being brown people and expressed that those who are truly devoted to their beliefs “should be ashamed of themselves.”
He also condescended to a Muslim woman who tried to educate him about Islam. pic.twitter.com/kxEE4LSJOi
— victor🦄 (@beyisover) May 6, 2023
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The British rocker’s white saviour complex is evident in most of his statements and it is unsettling how unapologetic he has been about his offensive behaviour. His half-hearted apologies are yet further proof that his activism is a performative platform to gain more attention and perhaps get a reaction out of people. Many have voiced that it is problematic to see Taylor Swift dating someone like Matty since his erratic behaviour raises many concerns. On the 17th of May, they created a campaign called #SpeakUpNow to raise awareness about his controversies and for him to own up to his actions. The situation has severely tainted the pop star’s image. It has also significantly damaged her relationship with fans, especially those from the communities Matty has targeted. It isn’t Taylor’s scandals yet the mere association with Matty along with her silence leaves fans alarmed.
