During the 1975’s London concert, frontman Matty Healy briefly touched on the fallout from his past controversies.
“I was always, like, trying stuff and some stuff I got right and some stuff I got wrong,” Healy, 34, said during the Sunday, July 2, gig at Finsbury Park, per Metro.co.uk. “But, do you know what? There’s a lot of things I’ve said, jokes that I’ve made, you know what, there’s probably a couple of f—king songs I’d take back if I had the chance.”
He added: “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 favorite art does and that’s what I’m trying to do. I get a bit excited. And, you know what, I’m f—king proud of myself.”
The England native — who called himself a “not a nonchalant person” during his speech, per PopCrave — noted that he is “not somebody who takes things for granted” and had gotten “excited” to share his feelings.
While Healy did not address the specific instances that he regretted, he has frequently made headlines for sharing his controversial thoughts through the years.
Back in February, Healy came under fire after mocking Ice Spice — who has since recorded a remixed version of “Karma” with Taylor Swift, whom Healy briefly dated in May — during an appearance on the “The Adam Friedland Show.”
The “Robbers” singer issued a public apology to Ice Spice, 23, later that month. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” he wrote via his Instagram Story. “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 d—k. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.” (Ice Spice has not publicly commented on Healy’s statements.)
Elsewhere in the same podcast interview, Healy admitted to watching pornography that featured brutal degradation of women of color.
In a New Yorker profile about the scandal that was published in May, the musician downplayed his remarks.
“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,” Healy said. “If it does, you’re either deluded or you are, sorry, a liar. You’re either lying that you are hurt, or you’re a bit mental for being hurt. It’s just people going, ‘Oh, there’s a bad thing over there, let me get as close to it as possible so you can see how good I am.’ And I kind of want them to do that, because they’re demonstrating something so base level.”
One month earlier in April, Healy revealed during one of his band’s concerts that he was “embarrassed” by his remarks.
“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,” he said during an April show. “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.”
Amid the controversies, Healy sparked a romance with Swift, 33, whom he was previously linked to in 2014. Us Weekly confirmed in June that the pair split less than one month after they started dating, with a source noting that they were “never serious.”
