Organizers of the Malaysia-based Good Vibes Festival are suing the British rock band The 1975 and its members, saying the group violated prohibitions by sharing a same-sex kiss while performing in Kuala Lumpur last year.
The band, whose members include Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel, headlined on the first date of the three-day festival in July 2023. Healy and MacDonald shared a kiss onstage during their set in protest of Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
Same-sex relationships are illegal in Malaysia, according to the LGBTQ advocacy organization Outright International. The remainder of the festival was canceled after the band’s demonstration.
The festival is seeking about $2.4 million, claiming that the band breached its contract resulting in financial loss for the festival’s organizer, Future Sound Asia.
Representatives for Future Sound Asia and The 1975 did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.K. High Court on July 23, alleges that the band was aware of the restrictions they needed to follow in order to perform. The organizers allege that the band planned to break the rules ahead of the festival. Restrictions included kissing, swearing, taking off clothes, drinking or smoking onstage and talking about politics or religion, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that the band had been bound to the same restrictions when performing at the festival in 2016. The agreement from 2016 had stated that “flouting them will result in the event permit being revoked,” according to the lawsuit.
During the band’s 2023 set, Healy said that he had made a “mistake” when booking the festival. He then slammed Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ policies while onstage.
“I do not see the f—— point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” he said at the time.
He then kissed MacDonald. Shortly after, the band ended the set early and Healy told the crowd that the band had “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.”
It was not the first time that Healy had protested a country’s anti-LGBTQ laws during a performance. In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan onstage in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is illegal. He said authorities were “going to arrest me” afterward, but the band managed to leave the country after the show, according to an interview with Healy from The Times of London.
After the Good Vibes Festival incident, Malaysia’s minister of communications, Fahmi Fadzil, criticized The 1975 on X and called their actions “very rude.”
“There is no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws,” he posted.
Fadzil subsequently announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2023 festival after meeting with representatives of Future Sound Asia.
