Matty Healy's wildest moments – celebrity feuds to raw meat on stage

Daily Mirror

27-06-2025

The 1975 star Matty Healy is known for his controversial moments, and as the singer is heading to Glastonbury we're taking a look back at some of these moments
He's the frontman who brought us Somebody Else but Matty Healy is better known these days for being somebody people love to argue about.
As The 1975 's lead singer gears up to storm Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, we're taking a look back at the moments that had jaws dropping and headlines rolling. Whether he's mocking fellow stars, causing international incidents, or eating raw meat mid-set, Matty's antics offstage often overshadow the music.
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Mocking Ice Spice
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He landed himself in hot water after appearing on a podcast with Adam Friedland and Nick Mullen, where the trio made racist jokes about rapper Ice Spice - referring to her as 'one of the Inuit Spice Girls,' a 'chubby Chinese lady' and 'a f**king Eskimo.' Matty laughed along as the hosts mimicked Chinese and Hawaiian accents.
His on-stage apology didn't help much: 'I don't want Ice Spice to think I'm a d**k. I love you, Ice Spice. I'm so sorry.'
Horrific porn confession
In the same podcast, Matty admitted to watching extreme porn called Ghetto Gaggers, which centres on the humiliation of women of colour describing scenes where women were brutalised". He said in the podcast: "I think it literally was something like Ghetto Gaggers on the TV, Someone is just like getting brutalised." The revelation sparked widespread backlash, especially from fans who saw it as deeply harmful.
A dig at Taylor Swift
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Before the pair were linked romantically, Matty dismissed dating rumours with a dig that caused quite a stir. He said: 'If she wasn't Taylor Swift we wouldn't be talking about her… She wasn't a big impact on my life.'
He added, 'If I had gone out with Taylor Swift the first thing I would've thought was 'F**king hell I am NOT being Taylor Swift's boyfriend.' That's also a man thing, a de-masculinating, emasculating thing.'
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He later denied he was throwing shade, but the internet wasn't convinced.
On-stage kisses even during COVID
Fans were split when Matty kissed multiple fans on stage during the band's post-pandemic tour. While some loved the spontaneity, others questioned the timing with consent, boundaries and public health still major concerns.
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Same-sex kisses in anti-LGBTQ+ countries
In 2023, Matty caused chaos at Malaysia's Good Vibes Festival when he slammed the government's anti-LGBTQ+ stance and kissed his male bandmate Ross MacDonald on stage. The festival was shut down and The 1975 were banned from the country.
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He doubled down in Dubai, kissing a male fan on stage. 'I don't think we'll be allowed back,' he tweeted. 'But I wouldn't have done anything differently.'
Critics argued the gestures were performative, risking more harm than help for local LGBTQ+ communities who face real legal consequences.
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Nazi salute and Andrew Tate
During a London gig, Matty mimed a Nazi salute while playing a clip of Andrew Tate claiming it was satire. But the stunt was widely slammed as tone-deaf and inflammatory, especially given Tate's own controversial reputation.
Eating raw meat on stage
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If you thought the antics stopped there - think again. At a Madison Square Garden show in 2022, Matty chomped down raw meat mid-performance and openly touched himself on a sofa.
'I'm sorry if you came with your dad and I was touching my d**k. It's your fault for bringing your dad,' he told the crowd.
His Glastonbury slot is set to be as unpredictable as ever but whether fans are tuning in for the music or the mayhem, one thing's certain: Matty's headline-grabbing reputation is far from fading.