British band The 1975 have been sued by the organisers of a Malaysian music festival which was shut down when the group’s lead singer kissed a male band mate and criticised the country’s anti LGBTQ+ laws onstage.
The 1975 and individual members are being sued for NZ$4.1m by organisers Future Sounds Asia, according to UK High Court documents.
In July 2023, authorities halted the Good Vibes Festival after a video widely shared on social media showed Matty Healy, the band’s lead singer, kissing bassist Ross MacDonald.
Documents lodged with the court claim The 1975 were aware of the prohibitions on certain behaviours while performing, especially because they had performed at the three-day festival previously in 2016.
The band reportedly agreed to abide by the restriction and were paid NZD$587,000 to perform.
The lawsuit claims Healy broke the conditions of performing at the festival by using profane language, drinking alcohol on stage, making a “provocative speech” and taking part in a “long pretend passionate embrace” with his band mate.
He told the crowd in Kuala Lumpur at the time he had “made a mistake” by agreeing to play a festival in Malaysia.
“When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it,” he said.
‘We just got banned, see you later’
Later, he cut the set short and told the crowd: “All right, we gotta go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, I’ll see you later.”
Homosexuality is a crime in Malaysia which is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and corporal punishment.
Many LGBTQ Malaysians told ABC that Healy’s stunt had done more harm than good.
Subsequent shows by The 1975 were cancelled in Taiwan and Indonesia.
