Rina Sawayama appears to call out The 1975’s Matty Healy at NOS Alive
Pop singer Rina Sawayama has again appeared to again call out The 1975 singer Matty Healy during her performance at NOS Alive in Lisbon.
Sawayama previously called out Healy at Glastonbury last month and claimed she’d “had enough” of being associated with him. They are both signed to the independent label Dirty Hit, which was founded in 2009 and The 1975 later became shareholders in the company in 2019. Healy also served as Dirty Hit’s creative director for four years before leaving the role earlier this year.
During her appearance at Glastonbury, Sawayama introduced ‘STFU!’ by alluding to comments made by Healy on comedian Adam Friedland’s podcast. “I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of microaggressions,” she told the crowd.
Sawayama continued: “So, tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough.”
Before introducing the same song at the Lisbon festival, Sawayama spoke to the audience and said “some people” need to make sincere apologies for past inappropriate comments.
“So I was thinking a lot about apologies. It’s just funny how some people get away with not apologising ever… For saying some racist shit. For saying some sexist shit,” she said. The singer continued: “So let’s try this. Why don’t you apologise for once in your life without making it about your fucking self?”
Adding: “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.”
Speaking on stage in Auckland, New Zealand, after the controversy broke out regarding his comments, Healy attempted to explain his actions by stating: “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. 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.”
He added: “I’m making jokes about shit because if I don’t, then I have to be really sincere, and I don’t like doing that. And I know that this is a paradox, but this is really freaking me out, and I feel like I need to do this. If this is part of the story, I’m a little bit sorry about shit that I’ve said, sometimes. I never meant to hurt anybody.”
Watch Sawayama address Healy at NOS Alive below.
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