The 1975's Matty Healey deletes Twitter account after controversial Black Lives Matter post

Some have accused the singer of using the Black Lives Matter movement to promote his own music
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Matty Healy from The 1975 has deleted his Twitter account after facing a backlash for a post about the Black Lives Matter movement.

The singer, 31, had posted about the tragic death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American who earlier this week died in police custody in the US, after an officer knelt on his back and neck during an arrest.

His death has sparked international outrage and ongoing protests in the US, as well as calls for justice from public figures.

Healy shared his outrage on Twitter, responding to people who have used Floyd’s death to promote an “All Lives Matter” message.

Twitter

Healy tweeted: “If you truly believe that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones.”

He included a link to The 1975's song Love It If We Made It in the tweet, with many accusing Healy of using the Black Lives Matter movement, and death of George Flloyd, as self-promotion.

One Twitter user wrote: “Matty healy a white male promoting his own work to profit off a movement about black people is not defendable.” [sic]

Following the huge backlash, Healy apologised for his post before deleting his Twitter account.

He posted: “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.”

Love It If We Made It includes the lyrics: “We're f***ing in a car, shooting heroin / Saying controversial things just for the hell of it / Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men / Start with misdemeanours and we'll make a business out of them.”

But his decision to leave the social media site has also drawn criticism.

One Twitter user wrote: “if matty healy really cared about improving what he said he would’ve stayed online and listened to those trying to correct him. instead he deactivated because of ppl calling him out for promoting a song during a tweet that shouldn’t have included any links to his work.” [sic]

The 1975: In pictures

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Some fans of the The 1975 defended Healy though, with one writing: “its not my place to say anything but matty healy promoted a song that talks about racial injustice during a blm movement and i dont really see much wrong with it. i feel he was trying to bring attention to the issue with his music.” [sic]

Another said: “stop cancelling matty healy he’s not promoting ‘love it if we made it’ he was doing it to raise awareness.” [sic]

Floyd’s death has led to widespread anger about police brutality, with many celebrities demanding justice over the incident.

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