Regardless of whether you’re a Swifty or a The 1975 stan, you will have by now heard the buzz online over rumours that Taylor Swift is dating the band’s frontman and resident problematic British boy Matty Healy. I know, we were surprised too—especially given Healy’s history with questionable comments and actions. Of course, Swift has also had her moments in the past, so maybe this actually makes total sense.

What is very surprising though, is the fact that the Grammy award-winning artist is now teaming up with gen Z icon and rapper Ice Spice—an artist who was actively laughed at and mocked by Healy himself on a podcast earlier this year.

For those of you who might not have caught up on the recent events, in January 2023, Healy appeared on an episode of The Adam Friedland Show in which co-host Nick Mullen made racist remarks over Ice Spice’s ethnicity, calling her an “inuit spice girl” and a “chubby Chinese lady.” Chinese and Hawaiian accents were also reportedly mocked, all while Healy can be heard laughing along in the background. To say it’s an uncomfortable listen would be a serious understatement.

@chang3ofheart

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The disgusting remarks thankfully saw the episode pulled from Spotify and Apple and, as reported by Rolling Stone in April, Healy issued an apology to the rapper during a concert in New Zealand. Issuing a public apology after receiving a torrent of backlash doesn’t really hit the same, nor does it excuse his behaviour.

“I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” The 1975 frontman told the audience, adding: “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. 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 dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”

@theproblemattyc

Replying to @pacciu92 **video not mine** #fyp #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #foryou #foryoupage #mattyhealy1975 #mattyhealytiktok #icematty #icespice #fyp #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #foryou #foryoupage #foryourpage

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Apologies are important, but this one screams of a lack of understanding or willingness to accept responsibility over the incident. I’m not sure he even realises how harmful the jokes were, which is even worse. Ice Spice didn’t publicly respond to Healy’s half-hearted apology, but her recent collab with Swift might imply that she’s moved on from the incident.

sweetest person ever thank u sm 😍💜i love yuuuu 🫶 https://t.co/FxGxpsRQRK

— Ice Spice ☆ (@icespicee_) May 24, 2023

So, why is Swift partnering with Ice Spice now? Is this just industry matchmaking at its finest? Clearly, pairing ‘America’s sweetheart’ up with one of gen Z’s hottest stars right now is a good move, but maybe the ‘August’ singer should address the elephant in the room first, aka her potentially bigoted boyfriend.

Regardless of the motivations behind this surprising collaboration, we’re glad Ice Spice is getting the recognition she deserves. We just wish Swift would be more transparent over the rumours that she’s dating someone as problematic as Healy. If you’re going to parade him round like a Balenciaga purse, you need to just own it and be upfront with your fans.

Appearing on Ashley Greene’s (who plays Alice Cullen in the fantasy universe) podcast The Twilight Effect, New Moon director Chris Weitz revealed that he rejected Taylor Swift’s request to be an extra in the 2009 blockbuster, claiming that she would have been too distracting.

It may come as a surprise to some—it certainly did to us—but good ol’ Tay-Tay used to be a die-hard Twilight fan. As Weitz explained, the pop star had the same agent as him at the time, who reached out to the director and told him that Swift wanted to be in the upcoming movie, “not because of you, but she’s a Twi-hard.”

Although Swift didn’t expect anything more than a short cameo in the film—“someone at the cafeteria, or the diner, or whatever”—Weitz ultimately thought that her presence would be detrimental to the second Twilight instalment.

“The hardest thing for me was to be like, the moment that Taylor Swift walks onto the screen, for about five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything,” the movie director continued.

However, Weitz did reveal the fact that he slightly regrets the decision. “She must have been like, ‘Who is this jerk?’ but sometimes you make decisions thinking this is for the best of the film,” he added.

As expected, fans were quick to share their thoughts on the revelation that the beloved singer—who had been romantically linked to Taylor Lautner in the past—could have starred in one of the most iconic movie series of the 2010s.

“Learning that Taylor Swift could’ve been in the best twilight movie (new moon) and she wasn’t ruined my day I think,” one person tweeted. A second wrote, “Maybe if New Moon had Taylor Swift in it, it would top the Hannah Montana movie but here we are.”

In the past, fans of the singer have also speculated that her song ‘Haunted’ was inspired by Stephanie Meyer’s books—specifically, the plot line in New Moon when Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson) leaves Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

“Before today, you could not have convinced me that ‘Haunted’ is not about Bella, Edward and Jacob in New Moon,” one TikToker said in a video. “But then [Weitz] said this on a podcast and now I’m even more convinced.”

@tatycake

haunted about bella edward & jacob confirmed lol #swifttok #taylorswift #twilightsaga #twihard #taylorsversion #speaknowtaylorsversion #hauntedtaylorsversion @Taylor Swift @Taylor Nation @ashleygreenekhoury #ashleygreene

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