Earlier this year, the week Ice Spice and Taylor Swift were set to release their first-ever collaboration on “Karma,” the rollout was clouded by comments from Swift’s then-boyfriend Matty Healy, frontman for famed indie pop band The 1975. In a podcast episode for The Adam Friedland Show that aired in February, and re-surfaced just before the “Karma” remix, Healy laughed while hosts Friedland and Nick Mullen poked fun at Spice’s appearance with racial undertones, calling her an “Inuit Spice Girl” and a “chubby Chinese lady.”
[RELATED: Ice Spice Discusses Friendship with Taylor Swift: ‘We Talk All the Time’]
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For months after this, though, even with “Karma” blowing up, we never got to hear Ice Spice’s feelings on the matter. Until now.
On Thursday (September 28), Variety published a long-form feature on Ice Spice, where she touched on her interaction with Healy following the Friedland podcast. First, she explained why she thought the racial comments were bizarre.
“When I had heard that little podcast or whatever, I was so confused,” she told Variety. “Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some shit like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean?’ First of all, I’m thick. What do you mean Chinese? What? But then they apologized or whatever. And the whole time, I didn’t really care.”
Next, Spice confirmed that her and Healy’s relationship is “good” now.
“I saw him at the Jean Paul Gaultier party a couple days ago, and he was like, ‘Hey, you OK?’ and I’m like, ‘Of course.’ He apologized to me a bunch of times. We’re good,” she said.
Later in the feature, Variety also obtained a statement from Swift, who is no longer dating Healy. Stemming from their “Karma” collaboration, Swift gushed about how much she admires Spice, and how she’s been impressed by her maturity and work ethic.
“I relate to Ice in many ways, but I think her dedication and focus is what blew me away from the very start,” Swift wrote. “She’s extremely professional without being cold. Playful and fun without ever taking her eye off the prize. She knows what is and isn’t ‘her’ and sets those boundaries with grace.
“Working with someone new in the studio, you immediately get a window into their creative process. [Ice] showed up with her verse not only written but had recorded and sent me a vocal pass beforehand just to make sure we were on the same page. Recording, she was quick and laser-focused, but intuitive and decisive and knew when she had it nailed.”
Spice also returned the favor, calling Swift her “sis” and giving insight on how their night was sitting together at the recent MTV Video Music Awards.
“That’s my sis,” the New York rapper said. “We was talking about a bunch of things. She’s so funny. We was sipping on a little something something. Just chatting, vibing.”
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV