Making headlines for more than just the music. Matty Healy has been raising eyebrows for years as The 1975 continues to find success.
Months before Healy was linked to Taylor Swift following her split from Joe Alwyn, the English rocker made waves for kissing fans on stage at various shows. He ditched the tradition during a January 2023 show — because Swift was there to surprise fans with a performance of “Anti-Hero.”
“I’m not kissing anybody in front of Taylor Swift, have some respect. In front of the queen, it’s not happening,” Healy told the crowd.
One month later, he was under fire for a podcast he recorded with hosts Adam Friedland and Nick Mullen. During the episode, the three men mocked Ice Spice and Healy laughed as Friedland and Mullen mimicked Chinese and Hawaiian accents. The “Robbers” singer also recalled an NSFW story about masturbating to brutalize women.
Healy later apologized to Ice Spice on stage, saying in part: “I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d—k. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”
While he didn’t directly address other controversial comments from the February 2023 podcast, he told the crowd he was “embarrassed,” according to Rolling Stone.
“The truth is, I see a sign that says like, ‘Matty, I hope you’re OK.’ I feel a bit bad, to be honest, because I feel like I’ve been a bit irresponsible,” he said in April 2023. “It’s very well for me to say, I don’t understand how famous I am. I don’t like being famous. But reality is reality. And I think that I’ve said some things or kind of, I make a joke out of everything. That’s my thing. And I can take it too far sometimes in front of too many people. And I feel a bit embarrassed. So that’s the truth.”
An insider has since confirmed to Us Weekly that Healy and Swift had reconnected after a “brief” fling “years ago” as they “run in the same circle of friends.”
“They’re looking to give things a second chance,” the source said in May 2023, adding that the Grammy winner “really likes” Healy and is “happy spending time with him.”
A second source added that the duo “have been hanging out and are having fun together” as “they both respect and admire each other’s talent. They have a lot of mutual friends, including Jack Antonoff.”
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Scroll through for a breakdown of Healy’s controversial moments:
