Matty Healy apologises once again for controversial behaviour: “I pledge to do better”
Matty Healy . (Getty Images)
Matty Healy apologised to fans for the controversies he has been getting himself into as of late.
During a gig at the Hollywood Bowl in California on Tuesday night (2 October) the 1975 frontman took some time out from the set to speak candidly with fans.
The heart-to-heart comes shortly after Healy faced serious criticism from fans – as well as Boygenius member Lucy Dacus – for making an ill-advised joke on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) that included an ableist slur.
Speaking to the LA crowd, Healy acknowledged that some of his actions had “hurt some people.”
“I apologise to those people and I pledge to do better moving forward,” he said, being met with cheers and whoops from the audience.
Healy then tried to explain himself, suggesting that his more controversial actions over the last few months weren’t him, but a sort of alter ego he had created for his art.
“I think it’s also important that I express my intentions so that everybody knows that there is no ill will coming from me,” he said.
“You see, as an artist, I want to create an environment for myself to perform where not everything that I do is taken literally. Like, for example, I’m on stage right now but I don’t do this in my normal life. I don’t go around singing songs and apologising.
“But I’ve performed exaggerated versions of myself on other stages like in print or on podcasts, in an often misguided attempt at fulfilling the character mold of the 21st-century rockstar.”
“It’s complicated. This might be cheesy, right? But sometimes playing pretend is the only way you can truly find out who you are.”
The singer jokingly concluded that this has resulted in him opting for “offensive impressions for attention [rather] than go to therapy.”
Healy attempted a similar apology back in July during a concert in London’s Finsbury Park.
The “About You” singer told the crowd that he had regrets over some of his past actions.
“There’s a lot of things I’ve said, jokes that I’ve made, you know what, there’s probably a couple of f***ing songs I’d take back if I had the chance,” he said at the time.
“What I mean is that I really am only doing this because I want to make you guys laugh and feel good. That’s what my favourite art does and that’s what I’m trying to do. I get a bit excited.”
In that instance, it appeared that Healy was apologising for the offensive comments he had made, particularly toward rapper Ice Spice, on The Adam Friedland Show podcast.
On the show, Healy made a number of remarks about Ice Spice’s ethnicity and heritage, before mocking Japanese, Scottish, and Hawaiian accents along with podcast co-hosts Friedland and Nick Mullen.
Healy’s comments on the podcast were particularly shocking and landed him in hot water, though Ice Spice confirmed in an interview with Variety that the singer has repeatedly apologised to her and the two are on good terms.
“When I had heard that little podcast or whatever, I was so confused,” she told the publication.
“Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some s**t like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean?’
“First of all, I’m thick. What do you mean Chinese? What? But then they apologised.”
She continued: “But that’s funny because I saw him at the Jean Paul Gaultier party a couple days ago, and he was like, ‘Hey, you okay?’ and I’m like, ‘Of course’.
“He apologised to me a bunch of times. We’re good.”
