He recited quotes from a piece in the Guardian about sexual assault in the music industry
The 1975 won the BRIT Award for British Group on Wednesday evening. But more notable than them picking up the award was lead singer Matt Healy’s acceptance speech. The charismatic frontman did not make some ambiguous remarks about how rock’n’roll will never die as some of his peers have done in the past, he had something much more important to say.
GUYS EVERYBODY LOOK LOOK THEY WOM. IM SO PROUD #BRITAwards #the1975 pic.twitter.com/j8oB7TrLwg
— 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕪𝕓𝕦𝕘 (@ShiggyBug) February 20, 2019
After picking up the trophy, Healy decided to use this opportunity to raise the issue of sexual assault and misogyny in the music industry. Reciting a quote from a piece by the Guardian’s music editor Laura Snapes, he said: “I just want you to listen to me for one sec. Just a couple of sentences. A friend of ours, Laura Snapes, said this and I just thought we should all really really think about it.
“She said ‘in music, male misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of difficult artists, while women and those who call them out, are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art.'”
.@The1975 collect the BRIT Award for British Group with an important message. #BRITs
Watch The #BRITs 2019 live here: https://t.co/qj4KiENtGs pic.twitter.com/z0wntv09jB
— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) February 20, 2019
The piece that Healy is referring to was published last week, after American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams was accused of sexual misconduct by several women.
https://twitter.com/laurasnapes/status/1096094300612513792