What did Matty Healy say about Asian people? Rina Sawayama lashes out at labelmate during Glastonbury set

Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama slammed Matty Healy for the racist comments that he made during one of his podcast appearances. On June 24, the 32-year-old star performed at the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, where, without taking Healy's name, she criticized the singer for mocking Asian people.

While introducing her song STFU, Sawayama said:

“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of microaggressions. So, tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches [p*rnography series] Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough.”

Matty Healy and Rina Sawayama are both signed to The 1975's band manager Jamie Oborne's record label, Dirty Hit. The Change of Heart singer previously served as one of the board members of the record label until he was fired in April 2023.

Healy has been the center of several controversies for many months, which began after he participated in some racist comments made about rapper Ice Spice's ethnicity. He was also constantly criticized by Taylor Swift's fans after rumors began that they were in a relationship.

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Matty Healy admitted to watching racially charged p*rn at a podcast appearance

During an appearance at The Adam Friedland Show in February 2023, Matty Healy joined Friedland, and his co-host Nick Mullen and revealed that he once texted 23-year-old Ice Spice on Instagram, which led the latter two to guess her ethnicity.

Calling her an “Inuit Spice Girl,” Friedland and Mullen remarked:

"This chubby Chinese lady. ‘Yeah, I rap and [make] music.’ Do they talk like that? Do Inuits talk like that?”

All of this happened while Healy laughed and the trio indulged in the mockery of Hawaiian and Chinese accents. Elsewhere on the episode, Healy talked about having seen the adult website Ghetto Gaggers, which features clips of Black women being humiliated by White men.

The controversial podcast was removed from streaming platforms Apple and Spotify but the clips are still available on YouTube.

ESEA Music, an organization comprising of East and Southeast Asian music industry professionals, has condemned Healy's remarks. The organization has accused Healy of promoting "flagrant racism" and being complicit in encouraging harmful Asian stereotypes.

Days after being criticized for his comments, in April 2023, Matty Healy addressed the controversy on stage while performing in Auckland, New Zealand.

“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 d**k. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”

As of writing Healy has not responded to Rina Sawayama's comments made during the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts.