Matisyahu Apologizes For Telling Fan Her Child Is “Ugly As Fuck”

Matisyahu Apologizes For Telling Fan Her Child Is “Ugly As Fuck”

Matisyahu has apparently been receiving nasty messages from disappointed fans suggesting he should stop touring in the wake of recent lackluster performances…

And now it appears the roots-reggae artist has reached his boiling point. In The Woodlands, Texas on Sunday, Matisyahu’s set opening for 311 and Sublime With Rome consisted of “standing in the corner making noises and jumping around,” according to one local outlet. A fan panned the concert on Facebook and took issue with Matisyahu shouting out Dallas instead of Woodlands. She tagged him too, so late that night Matisyahu wrote a few responses, growing increasingly irate, and eventually telling his critic that she should fuck off and that her child is “ugly as fuck.” Not cool, Matisyahu. The dialogue looked something like this:

Later that day, cooler heads prevailed and Matisyahu shared this apology/explanation on Facebook.

Where to start? Such a mixture of opinions flying around and at me right now. Let me just say that I don’t have someone running my social media. Every night after my show I go back to my room on the bus and read messages and comments at the end of the night. I’m three months sober and work very hard at it being on a reggae tour and all that. I touch reality and try not run from it. The reason I read messages is because almost every night there is someone who is sick or hurting and finds comfort in my music and usually I interact with them through words or even invite them backstage to meet and talk. It also means that I come across a lot of hate, critique, and opinionated people who find it useful to let me know how shitty they think my music is, or why have I “changed my look” or how could I do this or that. Some musicians out there might have tougher skin but it breaks my heart every night and gets into my head. In my weaker moments I fire back with a response or try to explain myself or defend myself and it usually ends in ugliness. In the words of the Talmud, “if you roll around with someone who is muddy you’re going to get muddy” or something like that. I understand my music isn’t for everyone but I put my heart and soul into every performance. If you don’t like it, fine but why do you need to comment? If I don’t like what someone does I might tell a friend or even talk about it but I’m not gonna go up to the person creating the art and tell them I think it sucks. What good comes from that? And at the end of the day my opinion is just that. An Opinion. There is no definition of good or bad when it comes to music or art. I know I could go out there every night and play the hits and just do what I think people want but when opening up and playing a 30 min set I have to choose. I choose to explore and find a meaningful unique experience in the music and hope that people will connect with it rather then fake it through playing songs that I don’t enjoy playing. To the lady I insulted last night I’m sorry. I got angry and defensive and yes your comments hurt and yes I read all your comments because at the end of the day I feel it’s more important to connect with the people who actually have some purpose or need to be listened to. From now on I will try my best not to respond to negative comments. Fire away! I will keep making the music that I feel is important and if you don’t like it and feel the need to tell me then I accept it all with a broken heart and it will feed the emotion in my music. Have a lovely day. Houston we have landed.

But not all of Matisyahu’s fans have forgiven him:

The moral of this story? Don’t go to 311 concerts. (Just kidding, you guys.)

Also note that, inexplicably, this is our second article about a Matisyahu controversy today. ??

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