Matty Healy’s family respond to rumors that Taylor Swift’s wild track The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived is about him – and insist he’s ‘very happy in his new relationship’

Matty Healy’s family has issued a harsh assessment of his ex Taylor Swift after she appeared to bully him over his new album.

Swift, who briefly dated Healy last spring, is widely suspected of taking aim at her ex in the song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, prompting fans to take a second look at the period she dated the 1975 frontman .

The 34-year-old’s 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released on Friday as rumors that the dissident song was about Healy reached fever pitch around the world.

The lyrics refer to a man dressed in a “Jehovah’s Witness costume” and “rusting my (Swift’s) sparkling summer”. Healy is known for wearing distinctive black suits during his concerts and the couple reportedly split in June 2023.

But her aunt today seemed dismissive of Swift’s openness about her exes, including Matty, when she spoke to MailOnline. He is now believed to be dating model Gabbriette Bechtel – who his aunt says he is “very happy” with.

Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released on Friday – initially as a 16-track volume with 15 surprise additional tracks released two hours later.

Matty Healy’s aunt, Debbie Dedes (left, with Matty’s famous mother, Denise Welch), said Healy probably wouldn’t be surprised by the fact that he appears to be referenced on the new album.

Swift described the new work as having captured a “fleeting, fatalistic moment”, with fans furiously analyzing the lyrics to determine who they might be referring to in her personal life.

The Smallest Man Ever refers to a lover in a “Jehovah’s Witness costume.” Healy is known for wearing black suits and ties with white shirts during concerts with The 1975 (above)

Taylor Swift performing on the Eras Tour in Kansas City, Missouri, United States in July 2023 – a month after her split from Healy

Healy is now believed to be dating model Gabbriette Bechtel after being dumped by Taylor Swift last summer

Debbie Dedes said of Matty’s reaction: “Nothing surprises him anymore.

“He won’t be surprised by the song. He and she know what happened.

And Debbie, who as the sister of Matty’s famous mother Denise Welch, has known Matty since he was born, continued: “She writes about all of his relationships, doesn’t she?

“I don’t think it will shock him at all.

“He’s very happy in his new relationship so I’m sure he’ll focus on that.”

And hinting that Matty has his own version of the relationship that he has been too respectful to share publicly, Debbie added: “As his nephew, we know a little more about what happened than what been said in the press.”

Other lyrics in the song suggest that the anonymous subject of the title “tried to buy pills” and “was no match for a man.”

Healy has openly spoken about his drug problems in the past and has said in interviews that he was tired of speculation about his height, saying he was 5’1″ tall but was dwarfed by the other members from The 1975.

He told The Fader in 2018: “Everyone in (the 1975) is 6-foot-4 and I’m 5-foot-10, so everyone thinks I’m 5-foot-5.

Swift found herself in a whirlwind romance with Healy — although it was never directly confirmed — which began in April 2023 after they were seen kissing in New York.

But the affair ended as quickly as it began after Healy’s “bad boy” image and “racist” remarks sparked backlash from Swift.

Swift is now romantically involved with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, but it’s clear she still has some bones to pick with the “worst men” in her life.

Swifties have been furiously speculating about the potential targets of the singer’s songs on the new album – which was initially released as a 16-song volume before a surprise 15-song extra release arrived two hours later .

The singer, who has reinvented herself over the years as a pop icon and more recently as a folk and indie voice of introspection, describes the album as capturing a “fleeting, fatalistic moment – one that was both sensational and sad in equal measure.

She added in an Instagram post: “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter is closed and doomed.

“There is nothing to avenge, no score to settle once the wounds have healed. And upon reflection, many of them turned out to be self-inflicted acts.

“This writer firmly believes that our tears become holy as ink on a page. Once we tell our saddest story, we can free ourselves from it.

“And then all that’s left is tortured poetry.”

Many of the songs – and the album title itself – are believed to refer to actor Joe Alwyn, who dated Swift for six years – but fans have speculated that several songs are also about Healey.

Alwyn revealed in an interview with Variety that he and fellow actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott have a WhatsApp group called “The Tortured Man Club.” The interview was resurfaced by Swift’s fans after the album title was announced in February.

The title song The Tortured Poets Department, however, features the lyric “who uses typewriters anyway?” – Some fans note that Healy revealed in a 2019 interview that he “really likes” using the old-school machines.

And some fans have also speculated that But Daddy I Love Him – a song about expressed disapproval of a new romantic partner – is also about Healy and those who disapproved of the relationship, which ultimately led to its implosion.

Lead single Fortnight, featuring Post Malone, also appears to take aim at Healy and how their toxic affair was “ruining my life”.

Swift and Healy became lovers in May last year following her split from Alwyn – with the 1975 frontman becoming a backstage regular on her Eras tour.

But a series of controversial episodes from Healy – including comments he made about his use of pornography and allegedly racist remarks on separate podcasts – have sparked fury from Swifties, who have called for the singer to dump him .

Swift reportedly dumped Healy days after he kissed a security guard at a concert in Denmark.

Reviews for The Tortured Poets Department have been largely positive, with critics hailing it as a “doozy” of a breakup album and a “smart, seductive, lyrically sharp set of gentle synth pop songs about matters of the heart”.

And fans took to social media to call it their “best album”.