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Critics accused him of "profiting" off the death of George Floyd.
The 1975’s Matty Healy deactivated his Twitter account after receiving backlash for reportedly providing a link to his music video alongside a Black Lives Matter post.
Fans were expecting a statement from the politically active 31-year-old lead singer in regards to Monday's death of George Floyd, a Black man who tragically died after a white police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck.
Healy obliged, sharing a tweet which read, "If you truly believe that 'all lives matter' you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones," with a YouTube link to the band's song "Love It If We Made It," according to The Tab.
matty healy promoting his song rn... this just gets worse please pic.twitter.com/lb6LsD0Dwp
— linee ia school (@angelvauIts) May 28, 2020 @angelvauIts
Critics then called him out for what they perceived as Healy "profiting" from Floyd's tragedy by "promoting" his music.
"Matty healy a white male promoting his own work to profit off a movement about black people is not defendable and if you are white and defending him you have no argument in the situation it’s really that simple," wrote one follower.
Healy apologized for the tweet, per the news source, writing, "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 xxx."
The song contains the lyrics "We're f--king in a car, shooting heroin/ Saying controversial things just for the hell of it/ Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men/ Start with misdemeanors and we'll make a business out of them."
matty healy's response to the murder of a black man was 1) tweeting a link to his own song 2) deleting the link to his song because it was insensitive and people were upset 3) tweeting the link to his song again 4) stropping and deactivating his entire account. what an ally
— luke (@ghoulets) May 28, 2020 @ghoulets
Healy then deleted the original post, but his next move seemed to cause more ire with the online community.
"If you truly believe that ‘all lives matter’ you need to stop facilitating the end of black ones" was the new message Healy tweeted. A few minutes after that post, he shared the link to the song again.
Healy deleted his Twitter account, reportedly after another onslaught of backlash.
Matty Healy’s tweet was well-intentioned, if slightly misjudged. Love It If We Made It calls out police brutality, mass incarceration and the private prison system.
— Alfie Barrishi 🌹 (@AlfieBarrishi) May 28, 2020 @AlfieBarrishi
Use your tweets to do the same thing, instead of cancelling someone who believes that #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/ygaRDttBZJ
"matty healy's response to the murder of a black man was 1) tweeting a link to his own song 2) deleting the link to his song because it was insensitive and people were upset 3) tweeting the link to his song again 4) stropping and deactivating his entire account. what an ally," posted a user.
But not all the comments were bashing Healy as some supported him, saying his posts came from a positive place.
"Matty Healy’s tweet was well-intentioned, if slightly misjudged. Love It If We Made It calls out police brutality, mass incarceration and the private prison system. Use your tweets to do the same thing, instead of cancelling someone who believes that #BlackLivesMatter".
TooFab has reached out to Healy's reps for comment.
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