The 1975 sued for $3.3 million by Malaysian organiser after same-sex kiss and protest got music festival shut down

It's been a year since The 1975's lead singer Matty Healy had an onstage tirade at Malaysia's Good Vibes Festival and got it shut down, and now the organisers have sued the English band in UK courts.

Last July, the 35-year-old said on stage that he "made a mistake" by booking the show in Malaysia with its anti-LGBTQ laws. In protest, he kissed his male bassist Ross MacDonald.

The entire festival was subsequently cancelled by Malaysian authorities, with musicians like The Kid Laroi performing an impromptu set at a bar and American band The Strokes adding an extra date to their Singapore show for Malaysian fans.

At that time, Good Vibes Festival's organiser Future Sound Asia sought US$2 million (S$2.7 million) in damages from them for breach of contract.

However, Variety reported on July 30 that Future Sound Asia has now sued the band in the UK High Court for £1.9 million (S$3.3 million).

Court documents obtained by the magazine claimed that The 1975 and their management were aware of the guidelines by Malaysia's Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performances by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) they had to abide by, including prohibiting swearing, smoking and drinking onstage, taking clothes off or talking about politics or religion.

They had previously abided by the same rules during their 2016 performance at the Good Vibes Festival and they agreed to do the same in 2023 and were paid US$350,000.

Despite initially having their application to perform at the festival rejected by Puspal and appealing for it successfully, the lawsuit alleged that the band then became reluctant to perform the night before their show.

It added that the band breached their terms of agreement with Future Sound Asia with their protest, including performing "a completely different setlist", Matty's "provocative speech", the kiss, smuggling wine, smoking and spitting on stage.

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They accused Matty of becoming "very aggressive" and having to be restrained by his managers after Puspal ordered the band to stop their performance, and stated that they packed up immediately in order to leave Malaysia by the next morning for breaching local laws.

Variety stated that the band had not filed a defence to the lawsuit yet and a representative had declined to comment.

drimac@asiaone.com

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