Matty Healy‘s year has been rife with controversy. Many of his actions have been called into question–mainly an exchange on the Adam Friedland Show where he laughed at the host calling Ice Spice an “Inuit Spice Girl.”
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At a recent tour stop, Healy decided to “take inventory” of himself, issuing a blanket apology for all his insensitive comments that may have been offensive to some.
“I think it is important to take inventory of yourself,” Healy told the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl. “So you become aware when your intentions and your actions don’t align. So, because some of my actions have hurt some people, I apologize to those people and I pledge to be better moving forward.”
Healy went on to express his intentions for some of his comments so that “everybody knows that there is no ill will coming me.”
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“As an artist, I want to create an environment for myself to perform where not everything that I do is taken literally,” Healy added. He went on to talk about playing a character on various stages whether that be a concert, print, or…’podcasts.’ (He then paused for comedic effect).
“You could also say that men would rather make offensive comments than go to therapy,” Healy continued. “There is nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself. Sometimes that just requires people who really know what they are talking about.”
That sentence teed Healy up for a faux BetterHelp ad. A stagehand came out with cue cards that helped Healy rattle off facts about the online therapist network. A banner for the website appeared on the screens beside the stage, further driving home Healy’s “sponsorship” with the company.
Last week, Ice Spice expressed her feelings about Healy and Friedland’s exchange about her.
“When I had heard that little podcast or whatever, I was so confused,” she said. “Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some shit like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean?’ First of all, I’m thick. What do you mean Chinese? What? But then they apologized or whatever. And the whole time, I didn’t really care.
“I saw him at the Jean Paul Gaultier party a couple days ago, and he was like, ‘Hey, you OK?’ and I’m like, ‘Of course,'” he continued. “He apologized to me a bunch of times. We’re good.”
(Photo by Steve Jennings/WireImage)
