In light of Taylor Swift‘s new remix of “Karma” featuring Ice Spice, her rumored lover Matty Healy has been the subject of intensive backlash over his insensitive comments about the rapper. The collaboration coincides with rumors that Swift and The 1975 frontman Healy are dating. Some fans have questioned her decision to work with Ice Spice after Healy faced criticism for agreeing with racist comments made about the hip-hop star in a February podcast. Ice Spice told Elle in late January that although many people don’t expect her to love alternative music, a genre distinctly different from her pop-infused drill sound, she’s “obsessed” with The 1975. As a result, Healy’s appearance on The Adam Friedland Show a week later seemed even more unfortunate. During the podcast, Healy, Friedland, and his co-host Nick Mullen made derogatory remarks about the rapper’s body and joked about her ethnicity, mocking Chinese and Hawaiian accents. Despite being removed from Apple and Spotify, the podcast episode is still available on YouTube. The conversation began when Healy mentioned that he once messaged Ice Spice on Instagram, prompting Friedland and Mullen to refer to her as an “Inuit Spice Girl,” saying: “This chubby Chinese lady. ‘Yeah, I rap and [make] music.’ Do they talk like that? Do Inuits talk like that?” This led the pair to ridicule Chinese & Hawaiian accents unabashedly as Healy laughed along.
“Yeah, that’s what Ice Spice is like,” he agreed, endorsing the mocking more than taking part himself. The hosts also suggested Healy message the rapper via Instagram for clarification. “So you slide into her DMs and ask ‘What are you? A f— Eskimo or something?’” Months later, in April, Healy issued an apology. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” Healy acknowledged at the 1975’s stop in Auckland, New Zealand, apologizing for his various offenses in the past. “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.” “The truth is, I see a sign that says like, ‘Matty, I hope you’re okay.’ I feel a bit bad, to be honest, because I feel like I’ve been a bit irresponsible,” he told the New Zealand audience. “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.”
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“I’m making jokes about sh— because if I don’t, then I have to be really sincere and I don’t like doing that,” Healy said. “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 s— that I’ve said sometimes. I never meant to hurt anybody.” After releasing her song with Ice Spice, Swift’s critics accused her of “performative activism.” She has not commented on the controversial statements made by Healy, whom she has also been spotted hanging out with recently. Swift announced that the Midnights deluxe edition would feature her collaboration with the “In Ha Mood” artist. Swift’s revised song will be her first to feature a female rapper. “I’m a massive fan of this brilliant artist and after getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch,” she said about Ice Spice in a May 24 tweet. “Sweetest person ever thank u sm,” Ice Spice replied in a quote tweet. In March, Swift embraced the “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” rapper on stage at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
