Charli XCX has defended The 1975’s Matty Healy after he kissed his bandmate Ross MacDonald at show in Malaysia.
The band’s frontman, 35, came under fire after he planted a passionate smooch onto bass player Ross at the Good Vibes music festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a country where same-sex relationships are illegal – but Charli, 32, has now come to Matty’s defence and said his actions were “a little divisive, but I think great art is divisive”.
During an appearance on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1, the pop star said: “I can’t speak on his behalf at all, but all I’ll say from my perspective in terms of that show, is that I just really enjoy people who take a risk in terms of what they’re putting out there artistically.”
Matty worked with Charli on her album ‘Brat’ – which also features Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Robyn – and the singer said she “really wanted” to collaborate with The 1975 star.
She gushed: “He’s like my brother now, and I hope he wouldn’t mind me saying this, but I have an endless amount of respect for him as a songwriter and him as a person, but I sometimes want to strangle him.”
The ‘Club Classics’ hitmaker – who is engaged to the band’s drummer George Daniel – emphasised she has “always been such a fan” of The 1975.
She said: “Even before being with George, years and years ago, I’ve always been such a fan of their work.
“[Matty] is thinking of the way everything is digested in terms of their work, their artwork, their font, their videos, their everything – it’s very, very holistic.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Charli revealed she was worried Lorde would “never speak to her again” after she failed to warn her about the song ‘Girl, So Confusing’ which was rumoured to be about the ‘Royals’ star.
Charli admitted: “I was ready for her to never speak to me again. That could have been an outcome.”
However, the pair went on to release a remixed version of the track featuring Lorde weeks after the song debuted.