Matty Healy’s Same Sex Kiss Could Cost The 1975 $2.4 Million
The 1975 were reportedly warned about "kissing" and “swearing, smoking, drinking on stage, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion.”
The 1975 (Credit: Samuel Bradley)
The Malaysian event, Good Vibes Festival, has filed a lawsuit against The 1975 and all its members individually after singer Matty Healy kissed his bandmate, Ross MacDonald, on stage last July, which shut down the remainder of the festival. By kissing his male bandmate, Healy broke the nation’s anti-LGBTQIA laws.
According to a Variety report, the festival promoter, Future Sound Asia, filed the lawsuit in a UK High Court, seeking £1.9 million ($2.4 million) after the rest of the festival was cancelled due to Healy’s antics.
Outraged by the country’s laws, Healy told everyone at the Good Vibes Festival about it after the fifth song in the set, Looking For Somebody (To Love).
The singer began making a lengthy, pointed speech, telling the audience, “I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the fucking point. I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy said.
“I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before, and it doesn’t feel good, and I’m fucked off,” Healy continued, referencing a 2019 incident where he kissed a male fan in Dubai, disobeying strict anti-LGBTQIA laws of the United Arab Emirates.
After the speech, Healy kissed MacDonald. The band launched into I Couldn’t Be More In Love from 2018’s A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. Following the performance, Healy claimed that The 1975 “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.” The singer and his bandmates promptly left the stage.
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Good Vibes Festival later issued a statement on social media, saying the headliners’ set was cut short due to “non-compliance with local performance guidelines.”
Last October, Healy claimed that the band were “briefly imprisoned” in Malaysia following the incident.
Future Sound Asia alleges that The 1975 knew what they were getting into when headlining the Good Vibes Festival and were warned of the country’s prohibitions twice: when they played at the same festival in 2016 and again last year.
The 1975 were reportedly warned about “swearing, smoking, drinking on stage, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion.”
They were also reportedly aware of the guidelines issued by the Malaysia Central Agency for the Application for Foreign Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL), which included a ban on “kissing, kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves.”
The 1975 accepted the $350,000 payment to headline the festival and reportedly agreed to abide by the rules.
The band haven’t yet filed a defence to the lawsuit.
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