Last month, Rina Sawayama appeared to fire shots at the 1975 frontman Matty Healy during her set at Glastonbury festival.
As the alt pop star's band began teasing the first notes of Korn's Blind, ahead of playing her nu metal-inspired track STFU! and a segment of Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff, she declared: “I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of micro-aggressions. So tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches [porn site] Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough.”
With her comments, Sawayama made reference to Matty Healy's appearance on The Adam Friedland Show earlier this year, in which saw him carry out derogatory impressions of various Asian accents with the show's host while discussing the heritage of rapper Ice Spice. He also suggested that he watches the violent, racially-tilted porn site Ghetto Gaggers, acknowledging that the site's videos "brutalised" women.
Since facing backlash for the controversial comments, Healy has issued various apologies, usually at live shows. Back in April, he said at a concert in Auckland, New Zealand: "I just feel a bit bad, and 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. I don’t want it to be misconstrued as mean. I don’t mind being a bit of a joker… but I am genuinely sorry if I’ve upset them because I fucking love them".
More recently, during the band's performance at Finsbury Park on July 2, the frontman addressed his reasoning as to why he makes controversial comments, stating: "I’m not someone who takes things for granted. The 1975 isn’t a dry band. There’s a lot of irony in it. Like, Love Me, for example – it doesn’t make sense unless I’m taking the piss out of myself.”
“I was always trying stuff" he continued. "And some stuff I got right and some stuff I got wrong. But, do you know what? There’s a lot of things I’ve said, jokes that I’ve made, there’s probably a couple of fucking songs I’d take back if I had the chance.”
“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.”
Now, Sawayama has again taken shots at Healy, calling him out for his lacklustre and allegedly self-centred apologies.
Towards the end of STFU! during her set at Nos Alive festival in Lisbon, she says: “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.”
Then, as her band begin to play the intro to Limp Bizkit's Break Stuff, she continues: “So let’s try this. Why don’t you apologise for once in your life without making it about your fucking self?”.
Check out the moment below:
Rina Sawayama calls out Matty Healy for the second time at NOS Alive Lisbon pic.twitter.com/7ObbLaNMTtJuly 10, 2023
