Matty Healy Wore A Peter Pan Pin When He Called Himself A “Poet”

JSYK, Matty Healy considers himself to be a “poet.” During his set at Glastonbury on June 27, the 1975 frontman seemingly shaded his ex Taylor Swift by making references to her album The Tortured Poets Department. Not only did Healy borrow some terminology from Swift when he labeled himself a “poet,” but he also wore a Peter Pan pin on stage. Reminder: “Peter” is a Peter Pan-themed song on TTPD that fans think Healy inspired.

“I have this thing where it’s difficult to tell when I’m being sincere. But I want to be sincere,” Healy said during his set in a video posted to TikTok. “What this moment is making me realize is that I, probably, am the best songwriter of my generation. The best poet, ladies and gentlemen, is what I am. A generational poet. A generational wordsmith.”

While his comments seemed to be sarcastic, fans were quick to connect his quote back to Swift’s April 2024 Tortured Poets album. Swifties think that songs like “The Tortured Poets Department,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” and “Peter” were written about her short-lived relationship with Healy. (The two were romantically connected in May 2023 after previously sparking dating rumors all the way back in 2015.) Plus, Swift is often called the best songwriter of her generation, so using that vocabulary might have been another way to throw shade.

Some fans think that Healy’s outfit — specifically his Peter Pan pin — was another subtle reference to the singer. In “Peter,” Swift sings about letting go of someone from the past who refuses to grow up. When it came out, fans speculated it could be about Healy since he had previously compared himself to the iconic character.

In 2016, Healy told Big Issue that he was “a sort of emo Peter Pan self-lacerating Pied Piper kind of character.” Then, in 2018, he doubled down on the metaphor when speaking to Music Week: “It’s very easy to be Peter Pan when you do what I do, and of course you’re gonna be Peter Pan! But you have to grow up, nobody likes an old infant, it’s a very ugly thing.”

Swift has also referenced Peter Pan in earlier music. In “Cardigan” on Folklore, she sings, “I knew you / Tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy.”

It’s still unclear what exact message Healy was trying to convey at Glastonbury, but Swift spent the weekend in New York City with Travis Kelce.