Glastonbury 2023: Rina Sawayama hits out at Matty Healy

Throughout his career, Matty Healy has managed to generate several controversies that have driven the public discourse surrounding him. This year’s iteration of the Glastonbury Festival further solidified his status in popular culture as a provocateur.

During her performance at the festival, Rina Sawayama criticised Healy (who is her labelmate) for his recent controversial comments in a podcast appearance, as well as suggesting he owns, as part of his work with Dirty Hit, the masters for her songs.

“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of microaggressions,” Sawayama said while introducing a song titled ‘STFU!’.

Sawayama continued: “So, tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches [pornography series] Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough.”

This is a reference to Healy’s comments on a podcast hosted by Adam Friedland, where he participated in racist jokes about Ice Spice’s ethnic heritage.

Healy later claimed that his comments were misconstrued: “I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you. 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.”

When asked whether he was trying to bate his fans, he replied: “A little bit… But it doesn’t actually matter. Nobody is sitting there at night slumped at their computer, and their boyfriend comes over and goes, ‘What’s wrong, darling?’ and they go, ‘It’s just this thing with Matty Healy.’ That doesn’t happen.”

Watch the clip below.

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