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Taylor Swift’s rumored boyfriend, Matty Healy, once gave a Hitler salute on stage and posted a ‘List of Jews’ to Instagram
(JTA) — These have been a wild few years for Matty Healy, the outspoken lead singer of the English pop rock band The 1975.
His group has released a string of acclaimed albums that went to the top of the British charts. But at the same time, Healy has cultivated a reputation as an offensive provocateur due to a series of statements and actions that have angered Jews and other minorities.
Now he is back in the headlines as the rumored new boyfriend of pop megastar Taylor Swift, and many diehard Swift fans — known as “Swifties” — are not happy. In describing their anger about the pairing, some Swifties are calling Healy “antisemitic,” in addition to Islamophobic, racist and other negative labels.
At a concert days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, Healy gave what appeared to be a Nazi salute, an act that quickly went viral. He made the gesture while singing the line “Thank you, Kanye, very cool” in the song “Love It If We Made It.” The gesture could have been a reference to rapper Kanye West’s series of antisemitic statements last year, which included praising Hitler.
But many fans maintained that Healy should have avoided the gesture, which could have been seen by viewers who were unfamiliar with its context. Some began calling him antisemitic.
“Satire or not, this is irresponsible and super lame to do on stage in front of a crowd of people,” one Twitter user wrote, according to The Independent.
Days later, Healy confused fans by posting an Instagram story, without context, with a screenshot of a Wikipedia article titled “Lists of Jews.” The article links to other Wikipedia articles that list famous Jews in Hollywood, politics and more.
Social media users were critical of the post, pointing to the fact that it could have been a reference to the Nazis’ policy of maintaining lists of Jews during World War II.
this goes back literal milennia and in a present day context it harkens to the antis3m3tic concepts of a “global kabal,” world domination/new world order, etc……i’m truly speechless. like why else would matty, as a non-jewish person, have posted that? to be ~rAnDoM~? no justin its a straight up d0g whistle
(Healy has also criticized U.S. Republicans for invoking Holocaust comparisons in the context of their opposition to abortion rights.)
These were far from the first controversies surrounding Healy, a fervent atheist who nonetheless admits he has a “Messiah” complex. After a 2019 interview, fans called him Islamophobic for referencing Islam and then saying “I have to get up every day and read something abhorrent that’s happened in the name of religion.” In a podcast appearance in February, he mocked Japanese people and the ethnicity of Ice Spice, an American rapper with African American and Dominican ancestry (whom he called “Inuit”). In light of her connection to Healy, Swift is now drawing scrutiny for collaborating with Ice Spice.
Healy’s charged statements about porn and his treatment of women fans — some of whom he has approached and kissed on his band’s recent tour — have also drawn condemnation.
In an open letter to the pop star last week, a group of Swift fans wrote that Healy’s past comments have hurt members of the “Jewish, Black, Chinese, Hawaiian, Inuit, LGBTQ+ communities, as well as women.”
Another thing that many Swifties point out: Healy was years ago also rumored to be dating Swift, but denied rumors by saying that being her boyfriend “would have been emasculating for me.”
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The post Taylor Swift’s rumored boyfriend, Matty Healy, once gave a Hitler salute on stage and posted a ‘List of Jews’ to Instagram appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.