Rina Sawayama looks to have slammed The 1975 frontman Matty Healy yet again in her latest festival performance after he failed to apologise for a number of controversial comments he made on a recent podcast.
Referencing his appearance on The Adam Friedland ShowPodcast, the Japanese-born British singer, actress and model said that she’d simply “had enough” but following Healy brushing over the controversy with what many have described as a pretty insincere response/’apology’, Sawayama isn’t letting it slide.
Taking the stage at the NOS Alive Festival in Lisbon, Portugal over the weekend, she once again put the spotlight on her 34-year-old label-mate by saying, “So I’ve been thinking a lot about apologies and isn’t it funny how some people get away with no apologising ever?”
Rina calls out Healy again and is literally screaming for him to apologise for his comments.
Tapping into the rage of the song, Sawayama goes on to call out Healy for “saying some racist s***, some sexist s***”, adding, “Why don’t you apologise for once in your life without making it about your f***ing self!?”, before the kicking into the rest of the aggressive and specifically chosen track.
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As alluded to, Healy did address the situation by stating that the whole thing “doesn’t actually matter” and that he was simply making jokes on a sardonic podcast, as well as suggesting that “if it does you, you’re either deluded or you are, sorry, a liar.”
He did also go on to apologise to Ice Spice, who was the subject of what many have labelled as racist and body-shaming remarks on the show, saying, “I’m sorry… It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued but because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d*ck”.
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A significant part of the friction between Matty Healy and Rina Sawayama beyond the incident is that the singer also belongs to the same record label as The 1975, Dirty Hit Records, of which Healy is also a shareholder and former creative director — hence her previously saying, “he also owns my masters”.
In this latest instance, he appears to hint back at Sawayama’s Glastonbury comments by saying, “So is a micro-aggression something like a——”, before the beginning of ‘It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)’ kicks in.
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As for the podcast from which the controversy originates, Adam Friedland and co-host Nick Mullen have since addressed the ongoing discussion, albeit only in their usual sarcastic and irreverent style, in which they seem to intentionally mispronounce her name and refer to her under the wrong nationality.
Pussycat Dolls cancel wave of tour dates due to poor ticket sales
Daisy Jackson
Pussycat Dolls have finally addressed the swirling rumours that they would be cancelling their upcoming PCD Forever world tour.
The girl group announced a major comeback as a trio – Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt, and Ashley Roberts – and their biggest international run in years.
The new Pussycat Dolls tour included a significant run of shows in Europe, including a Manchester date at Co-op Live.
But now it appears the rumours of low demand are true, and the group are cancelling an entire leg of their world tour – though thankfully, Manchester appears to have made it through safely.
In an open letter shared with fans, Pussycat Dolls said that they have had to take ‘an honest look’ at the tour and have made ‘the difficult and heartbreaking decision’ to cancel a number of concerts.
The Buttons singers will now play just one of their scheduled dates in North America, which will be the WeHo Pride event in LA, acknowledging the importance of performing at the LGBTQ+ celebration.
Addressing rumours that European dates would also be cancelled, they wrote: “Our UK and European dates are still moving forward as planned, and the response has been incredible, with several shows already sold out.
“We are putting everything into making this show a true celebration of the music and the memories, for the fans who have been with us from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time.
“We’re working hard to create the kind of show we’ve always dreamed of bringing to you. We cannot wait to bring this reunion to Europe and make these nights unforgettable.”
Pussycat Dolls signed off: “Thank you for your love, patience, and support.”
Five Finger Death Punch announce massive anniversary show in Manchester
Danny Jones
Five Finger Death Punch have announced a massive Manchester gig as part of their newly announced 20th anniversary tour.
Still one of our favourite unapologetic band names ever.
The heavy metal outfit is celebrating two whole decades of smashing you in the face with their hard riffs and aggressive vocals, and they’re bringing some other big hitters on the road with them.
Booking Manchester city centre’s AO Arena for the big birthday bash, this is going to be one hard-as-nails show.
Toasting the milestone at the start of 2027, the long-standing Las Vegas outfit will be coming to Manchester for the first time in the best part of a decade.
‘FFDP’, as they’re often abbreviated to, have played several substantial shows here over the years, including arena slots, but fans have had to wait a long time to see them return.
With a new album coming at some point this year – this being their 10th studio LP – we might not have a release date just yet, but you can guarantee die-hards will be snapping up tickets to hear their latest tracks live whenever it does finally drop.
Better still for metalheads, they’ve got not one but TWO popular contemporaries joining them across their extensive EU, UK and IE tour.
In addition to support from Scotland’s very own Bleed From Within, they’ve also got fellow veterans Lamb Of God as another one of their ‘warm-up’ acts.
Yeah, right… This place will be absolutely bouncing by the time the main event makes it to the stage.
Having just dropped their 10th record this year, too, the two heavyweights have plenty of parallels in their increasingly seasoned and successful careers; you could say they’re the perfect touring partners.
Speaking of which, you can see the full list of Five Finger Death Punch dates on the UK leg of their European tour run down below.
Five Finger Death Punch UK show – 2026 tour
16 Jan 2027 – Manchester, AO Arena
17 Jan 2027 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Arena
19 Jan 2027 – Dublin, 3Arena
22 Jan 2027 – Birmingham, BP Pulse Arena
23 Jan 2027 – London, O2 Arena
As always with the AO, you can enjoy early access if you’re a Three Mobile member, and the band’s official pre-sale will be available via their mailing list from 10am this Wednesday (6 May).
For those simply looking to grab general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch live in Manchester on from the same time on Friday, 8 May, right HERE.
Danny Jones -
11th July 2023 
