Matty Healy has apologised to those he “hurt” with his recent controversial statements.

During his band’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, The 1975 frontman vowed to “do better” in the future.

“Because some of my actions have hurt some people, I apologise to those people, and I pledge to do better moving forward,” he told the crowd. “You see, as an artist, I want to create an environment for myself to perform where not everything that I do is taken literally.”

Matty sparked controversy earlier this year with comments he had made about enjoying masturbating to videos of women “being brutalised” and for being involved in an offensive impression of rapper Ice Spice.

“I’ve kind of performed exaggerated versions of myself on other stages, be it print or on podcasts and in an often misguided attempt at fulfilling the kind of character role of the 21st century rock star – so, it’s complicated,” Matty, 34, continued. “Sometimes playing pretend is the only way you can truly find out who you are, and you could probably also say that men would rather do offensive impressions for attention than go to therapy.”

The British singer’s apology comes months after he expressed regret during a show in Auckland, New Zealand in May for mocking Ice Spice’s ethnicity during an appearance on The Adam Friedland Show in February.

“I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you. Ice Spice, I’m sorry,” he said at the time. “It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d**k. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”

The 1975 previously cancelled shows in Indonesia and Taiwan after an incident at Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival in July, when Matty criticised the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws and kissed his bandmate onstage. The event organiser stated they would seek $2.7 million (£2.23 million) in restitution from the group.

– Cover Media