The 1975’s Matt Healy Deletes His Account Following Backlash Over George Floyd Tweet
by Joseph EarpMatt Healy of The 1975 has found himself at the centre of an online controversy after fans alleged he had made the death of George Floyd about himself.
On Monday, Floyd was killed after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. While on the ground and defenceless, Floyd repeatedly told Chauvin and the surrounding officers that he could not breathe; his pleas were ignored. Chauvin has a history of complaints against his conduct.
The death of Floyd has kicked off a wave of protests in the States and around the world. Which is where Healy gets involved in the story.
On Twitter, the frequently outspoken frontman wrote a sensitive criticism of the “all lives matter” slogan, one designed to minimise the deaths of unarmed African-Americans by police. “If you truly believe that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones,” Healy wrote.
Healy then followed the message up with a link to one of his band’s own songs, ‘Love It If We Made It’, which contains a brief reference to police brutality. Sandwiched between references to “fucking in a car” and “shooting heroin”, Healy makes a throwaway remark concerning police brutality: “Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men.”
Almost immediately, the singer received pushback for the self-promotion.
Within moments, The 1975 singer responded. “Sorry I did not link my song in that tweet to make it about me it’s just that the song is literally about this disgusting situation and speaks more eloquently than I can on Twitter.”
Moments after that, he deleted his account completely.
Those seeking to support protestors in the States can donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.