Reena Swayama calls out Matty Healy for his racist comments

Rina Swayama didn’t mince words during a demonstration over the weekend when she appeared to speak out against Matty Healy for his past racist comments.

During her performance at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK on Saturday night, Rina, 32, dedicated her song “STFU” to the 1975 frontman, without mentioning his name, but instead referencing the specific controversies surrounding Healy.

“I wrote this next song because I was tired of these microaggressions,” Reena said on stage to loud applause. “So tonight, it goes to a white guy who watches ‘Ghetto Gaggers’ and makes fun of Asians on a podcast. He is also the master of my masters. I’ve had enough!”

Rina is signed to Dirty Hit Records, the same label as The 1975s, which is headed by the band’s manager, Jamie Oborne. Healy was the director of Dirty Hit from 2018 to 2023.

Rina’s powerful speech referenced several incidents involving Healy, including comments she made about rapper Ice Spice during a podcast, The Adam Friedland Show. Healy called Ice Spice an “Inuit Spice Girl” and a “fat Chinese woman”, mocking her Asian accent. Healy also talked about seeing a specific type of derogatory pornography that depicted women of color, especially black women, being brutalized.

The episode has since been removed from both Apple Music and Spotify. Healy later apologized for his comments about Ice Spice on stage at a 1975 concert in New Zealand.

“Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m upset that my joke was misinterpreted. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m ed**k,” Healy laughed. “I love you, Ice Spice. I am sorry. I don’t want it to be taken as mean.”

In an interview with The New Yorker in May, Healy addressed his many controversies, dismissing them by saying that most people are not concerned with what he has said and done.

“Nobody’s sitting at their computer at night, and their boyfriend comes over and says, ‘What happened, honey?’ And they say, ‘That’s the only thing with Matty Healy.’ It doesn’t,” he said. Let me get as close as possible so you can see how good I am.'”

Watch the clip of Reena’s speech here: