Matty Healy put Taylor Swift in a pretty sticky situation recently -- it involved a troubling podcast appearance he'd made -- but we've learned that controversy is NOT the reason they're no longer dating.
A friend connected to Matty's band, The 1975, tells TMZ ... Taylor was aware of Matty's remarks about Ice Spice on the podcast before she started dating him. While it's true her fans applied plenty of social media pressure over it, the friend tells us Matty and Taylor were used to the noise, and simply blocked it out.
ICYMI ... Matty went on the "The Adam Friedland Show" back in February, where Nick Mullen, Friedland and Matty openly laughed and made derogatory comments about Ice Spice ... even mocking her with Chinese and Hawaiian accents.
Amid Matty and Taylor's romance, the clip resurfaced online last month, along with a separate interview clip of Ice expressing her love for The 1975. BTW, all of this was brewing as Taylor and Ice prepared to release their collab, "Karma (Remix)."
Awkward timing to say the least, and although Matty ultimately apologized for offending Ice, some fans felt his mea culpa lacked sincerity. The podcast episode has since been scrubbed from several platforms.
Nevertheless ... we're told all the Swiftee angst over that is not at the root of them pulling the plug on their relationshp -- and, instead, it has more to do with the fact they simply don't have time for each other.
Everyone knows Taylor's Eras tour is packing stadiums across the U.S., and will for a few more months -- and Matty's friend points out The 1975 is in the middle of its European tour now.
We're told they still care for each other, even though things didn't work out romantically.
We reached out to Taylor's camp ... so far no word back.