Matty Healy has commented on Taylor Swift‘s record-shattering double album, The Tortured Poets Department. The 35-year-old 1975 frontman was asked by paparazzi on Wednesday, April 24, how he would “rate” the “diss track” that’s rumored to be about him.
“Oh,” Matty said with a laugh, according to a video shared by Entertainment Tonight. He then added, “I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good,” as he walked away from the videographer.
Last week, Taylor, 34, released her highly anticipated album on April 19. Immediately, Swifties picked apart the lyrics of each song, and became convinced that the track titled “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is about Matty and their brief 2023 romance.
Matty’s aunt Debbie Dedes recently told Daily Mail that her nephew is “not surprised by the song” in question.
Matty Healy was asked about Taylor Swift's new album 'The Tortured Poets Department.’ pic.twitter.com/FVLUGlwM96
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 24, 2024
“Nothing surprises him any more,” Debbie said, before adding, “Him and her know what went on. … She writes about all her relationships, doesn’t she? I don’t think it will come as a shock to him at all.”
Debbie also noted that Matty’s family knows “a bit more about what went on [between him and Taylor] than has been in the press.” She later added that the “Somebody Else” artist is “very happy in his new relationship,” as Matty has been dating his girlfriend, Gabbriette Bechte, since September 2023.
As for Matty and Taylor, they briefly dated for about one month in mid-2023. They were also rumored to have been romantically linked in 2014, but they never addressed the speculation.
In May 2023, the former couple were photographed walking out of Taylor’s party together. One month later, they reportedly split, and Taylor moved on with her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce, that summer.
Although she doesn’t mention Matty in “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” fans think the lyrics subtly point to him, especially when Taylor sings, “You crashed my party in your rental car / You said normal girls were boring / But you were gone by the morning / You kicked out the stage lights / But you’re still performing.”
At the beginning of the TTPD track, Taylor sings, “Was any of it true? / You gazing at me starry eyed / In your Jehovah’s Witness suit / Who the f**k was that guy?” In the chorus, she refers to one summer that had been tainted by the person in question.
“And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal?” Taylor sings. “And I don’t miss what we had but could someone give / A message to the smallest man who ever lived.”