Matty Healy appeared to throw shade at his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, as he said he was ‘not interested’ in writing music about his ‘casual romantic liaisons’.
The 1975 singer, 35, briefly dated the pop superstar, 34, last year after her split from her long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn, but they split in June 2023.
But despite the short relationship, Matty became the surprising focus on a number of songs on her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, which was released in April of this year.
Taylor is widely believed to take aim at him in the songs The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived and Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) among others, prompting renewed fan scrutiny of the period they dated.
And Matty has now seemingly made a sly dig towards the hitmaker’s frequent choice to write songs about her past romances, calling it such ‘an obvious thing to draw from’, that he finds ‘not interesting’.
Appearing on on Joshua Citarella’s podcast Doomscroll on Tuesday, Matty declared he didn’t want to write about his flings that he’s ‘become known for’.
He said: ‘Last year I became a way more well-known public figure for loads of different reasons. The only reason that I was interested in is kind of like, what I was doing.
‘So I think that a lot of artists, they become very interested in their lore, or they become interested in the things that have happened outside of their art that people know about, and they want to address that, and fair enough.’
He went on: ‘Maybe on my first record, when it was very much a series of journal entries, like little bits of heartache, I used to write about relationships a lot more and stuff like that.
‘But honestly I would kind of just be lying if I made a record about, I don’t know, all the stuff that was said about me or my casual romantic liaisons or whatever it may be, that I’ve kind of become known for just because I was famous.’
Subtly hitting out at artists who use their romances for inspiration, he said: ‘I think that that’s an obvious thing to draw from and I’m just not interested in it. And I think the maintenance of the status quo is something that I always like fight against.
‘So, the idea of making a record about something that personally happened to me, that by the time I put it out is gonna be like two years old. I see people doing that as well, and it’s not interesting.’
Taylor has written a number of songs that are believed to be about her past romantic partners, including Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer and Joe Jonas.
Her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, made references to current boyfriend Travis Kelce, as well as exes Joe and Matty.
The LP’s most savage track, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, caused speculation the diss song was about Matty to hit fever pitch around the world.
The title is noteworthy given that Matty’s annoyance about his stature, previously saying: ‘Everyone in [the 1975] is 6’4” and I’m 5’10”, so everyone thinks that I’m 5’5”.’
More recently, he addressed these short man allegations by telling a fan that he was ‘sick to f***ing death of this’, insisting that he is ‘a big boy.’
The lyrics also refer to a man in a ‘Jehovah’s Witness suit’ and ‘rusting my sparkling summer’, with Matty is known for wearing distinctive black suits during live performances.
Other lyrics in the song suggest the unnamed subject of the title ‘tried to buy some pills’, with Matty having openly spoken about his drug problems in the past.
And some fans have also speculated that But Daddy I Love Him – a song about the disapproval expressed for a new romantic partner – is also about Matty, and those who disapproved of the relationship ultimately leading to its implosion.
Lead single Fortnight, featuring Post Malone, also appears to take aim at Matty and how their toxic fling was ‘ruining my life’.
Following the album’s huge release – which saw it break various sales and streaming records globally – Matty broke his silence on it.
Asked by a reporter from Entertainment Tonight what he thought of his ‘diss track’ he politely replied: ‘I haven’t really listened to that much of it but I’m sure it’s good.’
Taylor and Matty began a whirlwind romance in April 2023 after they were seen kissing in New York, – with the 1975 frontman becoming a regular sight backstage on her Eras tour.
But a series of controversial episodes from Matty – including comments he made about his use of pornography and allegedly racist remarks on separate podcasts – prompted fury from Swifties, who called for the singer to dump him.
The Bad Blood hitmaker reportedly dumped him days after he kissed a male security guard during a gig in Denmark.
Taylor has since moved with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis, while earlier this year Matty got engaged to singer Gabbriette.
