Taylor Swift and The 1975 lead Matty Healy have just started dating—to the shock of many. Max Milo has the story.
TAYLOR SWIFT IS CONFIRMED TO BE DATING CONTROVERSIAL THE 1975 FRONTMAN MATTY HEALY. AS ONE WOULD EXPECT, THE INTERNET HAS BEEN IN A FRENZY. WHAT MAKES THIS PARTICULAR RELATIONSHIP SO NOTABLE IS ITS PERTINENCE TO CURRENT POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS. HEALY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO PURPOSEFULLY PERFORM OR PUBLICLY TALK IN PROVOCATIVE AND OFFENSIVE WAYS IN THE NAME OF SATIRE.
[“Love It If We Made It” by The 1975 plays]
IN THIS SONG, HEALY REFERENCES VARIOUS ILLEGAL ACTS AND DESCRIBES A COMBINATION OF POLITICAL EVENTS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM. HOWEVER, WHEN PERFORMING ON STAGE, HEALY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO DO A NAZI SALUTE AS PART OF THE SATIRICAL ACT. UNSURPRISINGLY, MANY PEOPLE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE OPEN DISPLAY OF AN ANTI-SEMITIC GESTURE. A QUICK LOOK INTO HIS HISTORY IS RIDDLED WITH PROBLEMATIC SITUATIONS. “MATTY HEALY APOLOGIZES FOR COMMENT ABOUT SEXISM IN HIP HOP.” “MATTY HEALY APOLOGIZES FOR OFFENDING ICE SPICE.” ONE OF HIS MORE RECENT OFFENSES INVOLVED A SERIES OF RACIST COMMENTS ABOUT POPULAR RAP STAR ICE SPICE. AND FINALLY, ANOTHER HEADLINE TITLED: “MATTY HEALY: ‘I AM PRETENTIOUS. AND I’M NOT APOLOGIZING.’”
[“Karma” by Taylor Swift plays]
FOR FANS OF TAYLOR SWIFT, HER DECISION TO DATE SOMEONE OF SUCH A REPUTATION BRINGS A HEFTY AMOUNT OF SHOCK. VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA SITES ARE FILLED WITH CRITICISMS OF BOTH ARTISTS AND CALLS FOR SWIFT TO CUT TIES WITH HEALY.
[“Karma” by Taylor Swift ft. Ice Spice plays]
THIS SONG, INSTEAD, WAS THE RESPONSE. EARLIER WE HEARD “KARMA,” A RECENT HIT SONG BY SWIFT. WHAT JUST PLAYED WAS THE ICE SPICE REMIX, RELEASED TODAY, MAY 26. NOW, SWIFT AND HEALY HAVE NOT COMMENTED ON THE CURRENT OUTRAGE, AND FANS HAVE BEEN LEFT TO PROTEST ONLINE. MANY FEEL THAT THE NEW REMIX IS SIMPLY A PR STUNT TO COOL THE ANGER OF THE PUBLIC. HERE’S WHAT NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE ISSUE.
[Ella] If what somebody says is considered to be racist and told to them that that has had negative effects on people and they double down on it and they don’t apologize and they don’t try and learn from their mistakes, that I kind of have a problem with. I mean, I think that that’s just something to like—kind of—I mean again it’s the context of it. I don’t know exactly what he said or what was happening. But yeah, if he has done this same kind of behavior continuously and people have told him to stop and he defends himself rather than try and change or like, address it…
[Lily] I mean, that’s not great.
[Ella] Hate ‘em. Canceled.
[Lily] Canceled!
[Ella] Don’t like him.
I ENDED UP TALKING WITH ELLA AND LILY, TWO SOPHOMORES WHO LET ME INTERRUPT THEIR STUDYING FOR THIS INTERVIEW. AT WHAT POINT CAN PEOPLE SEPARATE ART FROM ARTISTS, SHOULD SAID ARTIST BE PROBLEMATIC. SHOULD SEPARATING ART FROM ARTIST EVEN BE CONSIDERED? I ASKED THEIR THOUGHTS.
[Lily] Well there’s degrees of it, and it’s all about the context. I mean, of course, if there’s an artist who’s alive versus no longer alive and they’re physically, like, financially benefiting from you paying for their art. And then, that’s different than somebody who’s no longer reaping those benefits, for one. And then also, it’s kind of like—how bad was the thing that they did. I mean, there’s pretty big degrees of doing bad things, so…
LILY BROUGHT UP ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT ABOUT CELEBRITY CONTROVERSIES.
[Lily] People kind of forget about them really quickly. I think especially, like, I remember when it came out that Taylor Swift had the most carbon emissions of any celebrity and everyone was pissed ‘cause, obviously that’s a big deal that people care about. And so it’s also like, my question is also, like, people being upset—rather than the validity of it, it’s like how long is that going to last for…And if it should last for a long time. Obviously, if she’s seriously associating with someone that’s actively racist and has a negative impact on people in general, that’s a problem. But, my concern with these types of things online are kind of like…how long is it? How do you really hold people accountable?
FOR NOW, WE WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE HOW EVENTS UNFOLD. FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M MAX MILO.
