Matty Healy called Kanye West his “hero” while ranting about the Grammys during The 1975’s concert in New York City Wednesday night.
“The fact that we didn’t get nominated for a Grammy was a f–king outrage,” the controversial singer said onstage at Madison Square Garden as the crowd erupted in cheers, according to an NSFW video shared on TikTok.
“The reason people don’t say that is ’cause it’s not a very tasteful thing to say, but I’m way past tasteful,” he joked. “Are you f–king mental?”
Although Healy, 34, claimed he does not “really care that much,” he named two of his band’s albums that he believes deserved nominations, 2016’s “I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” and 2018’s “A Brief Inquiry Into online Relationships,” in addition to their 2022 song “about You.”
Midway through the two-minute rant, the performer shifted his focus to West, who has also been a staunch critic of the Recording Academy.
“I’m not being self-celebratory, but Kanye is one of my heroes,” he said. “You know what? You’ve got to f–king believe in yourself.”
As the audience started booing, Healy acknowledged that West, 46, is an “awkward hero to have right now” given his antisemitic comments.
“But separate the antisemitism, just think about the self-belief,” he urged fans with a chuckle.
Sensing the discomfort in the room, Healy stopped talking and launched into The 1975’s next song. (Throughout the group’s tour, the frontman has performed a bit in which he makes various controversial comments, only for his bandmates to abruptly cut him off and start playing music.)
Healy has never shied away from speaking his mind — even when it lands him in hot water.
In fact, amid backlash over West’s disturbing remarks last year, Healy was accused of doing a Nazi salute while performing one of his songs that mentions the embattled “Heartless” rapper by name.
The rock star seemed to do the gesture while marching in place as he sang the lyrics “Thank you, Kanye, very cool” from The 1975’s hit “Love It If We Made It.”
However, many fans argued that Healy did the salute to imply that West was a Nazi, not to praise him.
A month later, the “Robbers” singer condemned Ye on “The Adam Friedland Show.”
“He’s obviously someone who is dealing with grief and has mental health issues, but that’s not an excuse to do, like, antisemitism,” he said. “It’s not really is it.”
Although Healy is “all for the Kaufman-esque or Warhol-esque blurring of boundaries,” he noted that West had crossed the line.
“There is stuff that is more important than art,” he said. “Like people, people are more important than art.”
