December 2018: Matty Apologizes For Rap Misogyny Comments

Matty Healy came under controversy for some statements that he made in an interview with The Fader. The singer, a recovering addict, was asked about drugs’ influence on the music industry.

He responded,  “One of the problems is the youth of hip-hop. At the moment, with SoundCloud rap, it’s become a bit of a drug-taking competition, and that happened in rock’n’roll. Those things get weeded out the longer those things exist. The reason misogyny doesn’t happen in rock’n’roll anymore is because it’s a vocabulary that existed for so long is that it got weeded out. It still exists in hip-hop because [the genre] is so young, but it’ll stop. That’s why you have this moment with young black men—Kanye-aged men, as well—talking about their relationship with themselves, which is a big step forward for hip-hop. Drake, for example. But then they’ll be like, “But I still got bitches.” The scene’s relationship with women hasn’t caught up to its relationship with itself, but that’s something that will happen.”

Days after the publication of the interview, he tweeted, “What I said isn’t correct. And it’s not all a misquote. Just for clarity I said that misogyny wasn’t ALLOWED in rock and roll now days in a way it is in hip hop – not that it doesn’t exist, that’s maybe a misquote as I’m aware of the misogyny in rocknroll…I would never deny the RAMPANT misogyny that exists in rock’n’roll. It’s everywhere and has been a weirdly accepted part of it since its inception.”

He later continued, “Just to clarify I’m not apologizing for saying ‘rock music is void of misogyny’. I didn’t say that. Anybody who says that is not only thick as fuck they most probably don’t have physical eyes. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m apologizing for the fact my words could INSINUATE that misogyny in culture and music is an exclusively hip-hop (Black) issue. I do not believe that. What I believe is that I’m not educated enough to speak on THAT properly and a big part of that is this white dick that I have.”

May 2020: Matty deactivates Twitter after controversial Black Lives Matter tweet

On May 2020 amid the George Floyd protests, Matty tweeted, “If you truly believe that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones.” The frontman included a link to the band’s song “Love It if We Made It” in the tweet which features lyrics about police brutality and racism such as “Saying controversial things just for the hell of it / Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men.”

He came under fire immediately for promoting his song in sensitive times. He followed the tweet up with, “Sorry I did not link my song in that tweet to make it about me it’s just that the song is literally about this disgusting situation and speaks more eloquently than I can on Twitter.”

May 2020: Twitter user makes a thread about Matty’s past

A Twitter user @sn0rkmaid3n who is also a 1975 fan made a Twitter thread about Matty’s past which also includes him allegedly making various slurs. 

September 2022: Matty Healy on cancel culture & kissing fans

In an interview with The Guardian, Matty talks about what he thinks about cancel culture. “I’m always talking about the internet and what’s happening now, so cancel culture is something I’m interested in as a phenomenon, but I don’t want it to come across like I’m butt-hurt about it because, honestly, I don’t really care. Because what is canceling? People start a social media account and once they get more than 300 followers they can’t see their audience as anything but an audience, something to be performed to – which is why you get the weird thing of your mate who works in a brewery talking on Facebook like he’s talking to a packed convention centre. When you’re performing to an audience, the only human inclination is to be the benevolent protagonist. You’d never assume the role of the antagonist – that’s why trolls exist with anonymity.”

He continued, “People who actually put themselves out there, online, their role is to be the good guy. We’re not aware of the solipsism of this behavior because we’re all doing it. So once a week, culture generates a baddie so all the good guys can go: ‘Look how good I am in opposition to how bad he is.’ And the reason we forget about whatever morally [dubious] thing that person has done a week later is because we don’t care. It’s all literally a performance. There’s a purposeful removal of context in order to seem virtuous that happens so constantly that people can’t even be arsed.”

The “Robbers” singer also came under fire for kissing fans and eating raw meat during his concerts. One fan who partook in one of the makeouts tweeted that it was consensual between her and the frontman. “On a real note I do want to state some facts before we get any farther, i had this on my phone because he mentioned at some point “I can only make out with you.'” a fan named Isabella tweeted. “So I did this, he saw it and brought me up, HE ASKED before he kissed me! Also I’m a grown age of 24.

April 2023: Matty Healy apologizes to Ice Spice for racist actions on a podcast

In January 2023, Matty Healy appeared on the podcast The Adam Friedland Show with the comedian and co-host Nick Mullen. Matty mentioned that he tried to message rapper Ice Spice on Instagram to which the co-hosts mocked her name and participated in racist insults towards Chinese, Hawaiian and Inuit people by doing mocking accents. One of the hosts responded to Matty, “Inuit Spice Girl,” and continued “This chubby Chinese lady. ‘Yeah, I rap and [make] music.’ Do they talk like that? Do Inuits talk like that?” Though Matty didn’t participate, he did laugh along with the hosts.

Artist Yungblud targeted Matty in a Twitter thread. “Love listening to three privileged white dudes sit around and objectify a young black female artist who’s blowing up,” he wrote “Welcome to your 30’s I guess…” Matty responded by mocking him on his Instagram stories.

The podcast has been taken down on podcast platforms but is currently still up on Youtube. Ice Spice professed herself as a 1975 fan before the podcast, but has not commented on the controversy.  Matty ended up apologizing to Ice Spice in-directly and in front of an audience during The 1975 At Their Very Best tour. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” Matty told the audience at a concert stop in Auckland, New Zealand, issuing a catch-all apology for his multiple offenses over the years. “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”

In the same month, he explained why he wants to not be a bad person anymore.  “It’s because everything happens in eras,” he reportedly explained of his decision. “The 1975 is a very eras band. The era of me being a fucking arsehole is coming to an end. I’ve had enough.” He continued: “I perform all the time and it’s my job and I love doing this but I can’t perform off the stage anymore as I just want to be a bloke.”

May 5, 2023: Taylor Swift fans make a thread of Matty Healy’s controversy

After news of Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s relationship emerged, many Swifties took to action to call out Matty’s previous actions. A Swiftie account @antiheroandie made a Twitter thread: “Matty Healy being a racist, islamophobic, antisemitic sexist, and overall piece of shit- a thread” Included in the thread are deleted tweets and videos of him doing a Nazi salute earlier in January 2023 at a 1975 concert.

May 17, 2023: Taylor’s fans make #SpeakUpNow campaign

On May 17, 2023, Taylor Swift’s fans made a campaign #SpeakUpNow to raise awareness about Matty Healy’s controversies and a call for him to take responsibility of his actions.

“From engaging in racist remarks, making offensive jokes, and admitting to watching degrading pornography in which people of color are being humiliated and assaulted, his actions contribute to the perpetuation of hate, stereotypes and objectification which targets and hurts some people from the Jewish, Black, Chinese, Hawaiian, Inuit, LGBTQ+ mcommunities as well as women,” the statement read. “While individuals have the right to make their own choices and form relationships, we believe that it is essential for those in the public eye to take a stand against discrimination and hold themselves and their associates accountable.”

It continued, “We urge you to reflect on the impact of your own and your associates’ behavior and engage in genuine self-reflection. True change requires more than a simple apology: it necessitates a commitment to education, unlearning harmful beliefs and actively dismantling systems of oppression that perpetuate racism and discrimination.”

May 30, 2023: Matty Healy addresses Ice Spice controversy

In a New Yorker profile, Matty addressed the Ice Spice controversy that happened earlier in the year. “You’re either deluded or you are, sorry, a liar,” he said, addressing fans who claimed to be offended by the remarks. “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.”

In the interview, Matty seemed to turn away from the Taylor Swift dating remarks. The profile comes days after Taylor Swift collaborated with Ice Spice for a remix of “Karma.” The “Love Story” singer and “Princess Diana” rapper both performed the remix at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for Taylor’s Eras Tour.

May 31, 2023: Fans find Matty’s friends making fun of Taylor in podcast

On May 31, 2023, Buzzfeed made an article that exposed two of Matty’s friends—Dasha Nekrasova and  Anna Khachiyan made fun of Taylor in their podcast Red Scare. In the podcast episode called “Make Americana Great Again,” they called Taylor’s documentary “very masterful propaganda” as they called Taylor “literally the walking, talking embodiment of liberalism in that she’s a person who cannot acknowledge their capacity for monstrousness or evil, which is the source of all their problems.”  

They even made fun of Taylor’s mom when Anna mimicked the evermore singer. “She was like: ‘The president’s gonna come for me, he is going to throw me in one of those dreamer detention camps. He’s gonna separate me from my Miss Piggy mother!’”

One Taylor fan on Reddit called out their behavior and even questioned why Taylor was with Matty. “Once again, no idea why she continues to date him. She has no self respect whatsoever,” one person wrote on a Reddit forum. Someone else added: “Can’t imagine my boyfriend being friends with people that would mock me in any way and even worse my mom.”

July 24, 2023: Malaysian music festival is canceled after Matty Healy kisses bandmate on stage

On July 22, 2023, The 1975 performed at Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when Healy went on a rant about the country’s Anti-LGBTQIA+ laws on stage. “I do not see the f**king point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy declared in a speech during the show. “Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f**king furious.”

“And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government,” Healy added, addressing the festival and audience. “You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive, and cool.”

“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f**k off,” he said. “I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good.” Healy then proceeded to kiss bandmate Ross MacDonald. The festival later announced that Healy’s actions caused the rest of the festival to be canceled. The kiss violated Malaysia’s restrictive laws, which state that homosexual acts are illegal and punishable by both fines and potentially up to 20 years in prison.

While many people praised and supported Healy for standing up against the homophobic laws, many Malaysian queer citizens took to social media to criticize the 1975 lead singer for his performative activism. “Malaysian queers have worked HARD to try and campaign for our rights, many of them are entirely volunteer-based and completely funded by other local queers. We pour alot of blood, sweat, and tears to making sure our peers have a safespace, especially in such a hostile environment,” one person tweeted. “Matty pulling that stunt actively endanger all those efforts by shining a spotlight onto us. Conservatives outrank us here and literally raided Swatch for having a pride collection. All this does is tighten the laws against us and increase the number of eyes on us.”

Several acts who performed at the festival performed outside of festival grounds like The KID LAROI performed in a hotel lobby for his fans. Malaysian singer-songwriter Talitha posted on Instagram that she was dedicating her first set at Good Vibes Festival to her mom who just passed away. “Well, @the1975 , because of your reckless ignorance, selfishness & inability to adjust or respect different cultures (white saviour complex), she wrote.

“I am so sorry Mummy. And Now you can go back to your country thinking you did an “amazing” thing for Malaysia’s “young people”. Malaysia’s not perfect. But man, I am shattered. I feel sorry for @goodvibesfest ‘s team, i feel sorry for all the performers who have worked so hard on showcasing their music. So yeah, @trumanblack , “I am furious” at you and your white privilege, thanks for nothing.”

October 2022: Matty Healy explains why he’s off Twitter

In an interview with NME, Matty Healy explained why he was off Twitter and about his tweet amid the George Floyd protests. He said, “By that point, my reaction in the room to all that Twitter shit was like, ‘Oh fuck off! You know that I’m not using this as an opportunity to monetize the half-a-pence I get paid for a fucking YouTube play’. What I’m saying is, ‘Here’s something I’ve really thought about’, and all you’ve been asking for four days is ‘Say something about it!’ So I said, ‘Here’s what I think’.”

The song “Love It If We Made It” contains some social commentary that he emphasized in the interview. “I was like, ‘You know what? If I’m gonna write about the culture war then I’m not going to be in it anymore. I’m certainly not going to become a pawn in it’ – that’s what I was starting to become: very much this beacon of the left, which was pissing me off. Not as much as the right, because there are Nazis in the right, but the left was starting to wind me up.”

He was asked if a hyper-conscious online culture and community could ever make mistakes and he explained that it was a “standard thing that an entire generation has set up for themselves. The problem with Gen Z is that they’ve set up this moral standard that they can’t even live up to! They’re starting to realize that as they’re getting into their mid-20s.”

He continued: “When you’re an idealistic 18 or 19-year-old, sure! But you will make mistakes, you will hurt people, you will do things that some people will perceive as rotten. It’s this standard that I’m trying to break down. I’m just a bloke, so are you. No one’s fooling anybody.”