Charli XCX has defended The 1975 frontman Matty Healy after he kissed the band’s bassist onstage in Malaysia in July 2023. The “Brat Summer” trendsetter said about the controversial gay kiss that “great art is divisive”. 

Healy appeared at Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival last year when he shared a same-sex kiss onstage with his bandmate Ross MacDonald and criticised the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Healy claimed that he was “briefly imprisoned” following the act, which his frequent collaborator Charli has dubbed as “art”. 

Whilst appearing on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music, Erupcja star Charli said about the event: “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.”

“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 singer admitted.