The 1975 are expected to face legal consequences after frontman Matty Healy called out Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws during their controversial performance at Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur last month.
After venting between songs about Malaysia’s “fucking ridiculous” criminalization of homosexuality, Healy shared an extended kiss with bandmate Ross MacDonald, causing The 1975’s set to be cut short and prompting Malaysian government to cancel the rest of the festival. Now, Future Sound Asia (FSA) — the organizers of Good Vibes — are preparing to demand financial compensation from the band, or else take legal action in their home country of England.
“The Band’s actions intentionally contravened the agreement they had with FSA for their
performance at GVF2023,” FSA said in a statement (via Billboard). “This breach led to the festival’s cancellation, resulting in significant financial losses for FSA and negatively impacting local artists and businesses that depended on the festival’s success — affecting the livelihoods of many Malaysians.”
The statement continues: “FSA deeply values the trust that fans and regulatory authorities have placed in them over the years. The organization remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering vibrant live music experiences in Malaysia, ensuring full compliance with local laws and regulations.”
FSA’s lawyer David Matthew added in a statement to Rolling Stone: “Future Sound Asia’s claim against The 1975 is, in the main, one for intentional breach of contract. Mr. Healy’s representative categorically provided a pre-show written assurance that Mr. Healy and The 1975’s live performance shall adhere to all local guidelines and regulations during their set in Malaysia. Despite this, the assurance was ignored, and the band’s actions clearly contravened the agreement with Future Sound Asia. This led to the cancellation of the festival which, in turn, caused significant losses to Future Sound Asia.”
But even members of Malaysia’s queer community were critical of Healy’s actions at Good Vibes, arguing that his speech did more harm than good by leaving fans to “to deal with the aftermath.” As one Twitter user wrote: “Matty pulling that stunt actively endanger all those efforts by shining a spotlight onto us. Conservatives outrank us here and literally raided Swatch for having a pride collection. All this does is tighten the laws against us and increase the number of eyes on us.”