The organizer of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival has sued the 1975 and all of the British pop-rock band’s members individually, following lead singer Matty Healy’s purported protest against the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ law on stage.
Future Sound Asia, the music festival’s organizers, are seeking $2.4m (£1.9m) after the band’s violation of the event’s behavior code resulted in the festival being shut down last July.
In court documents filed in UK high court and first reported by Variety, the organizers claim that the 1975 and their management were aware of the numerous rules they had to abide by on stage in order to perform, including prohibition of smoking, swearing or drinking on stage, taking off clothes, or talking about politics or religion.
The Malaysia Central Agency for the Application for Foreign Filming and Performance by Foreign Artists (Puspal) further bans “kissing, kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves” on stage.
The lawsuit notes that the band performed at the festival with the same restrictions in 2016, and were reminded of them again several times ahead of their performance last July.
According to the suit, Puspal initially rejected the band’s application to perform last summer, citing a 2018 article about Healy’s past drug addiction and subsequent recovery. After the band appealed and promised to adhere to “all local guidelines and regulations”, the agency approved the band’s application.
But the night before the performance, the Manchester-bred group allegedly decided against performing, then changed their minds and decided to stage a protest of the prohibitions. The suit claims that the band decided to play “a completely different setlist” and “act in way that were intended to breach the guidelines” including Healy making a “provocative speech” and taking part in a “long pretend passionate embrace” with bassist Ross MacDonald “with the intention of causing offence and breaching the regulations and the terms of the agreement”.
The suit also alleges the band brought a bottle of wine on stage so Healy “could have easy access”.
The lawsuit accuses the 35-year-old musician of drinking alcohol, acting “in a drunken way”, smoking cigarettes, “appear[ing] to vomit on the stage and/or grunt and spit excessively including towards the audience”, using “profanity-laden speech” and intentionally damaging a drone camera used by the organizers.
Following the kiss, Puspal representatives ordered the band to stop their performance, and Healy was allegedly “very aggressive” toward them, “swearing at them and others” and requiring restraint from his managers.
The government revoked the festival’s license the day after performance; the final two days of the event, which were set to feature both local and international acts such as the Strokes, were cancelled.
The 1975, meanwhile, allegedly rushed to their hotel to collect their belongings and leave the country as soon as possible, the suit claims, as they were aware their performances had broken Malaysian law. Healy claimed he was “briefly imprisoned” after the performance.
“Me kissing Ross was not a stunt simply meant to provoke the government,” Healy later said. “It was an ongoing part of the 1975 stage show, which had been performed many times prior.” He also added: “The idea that it’s incumbent upon artists to cater to the local cultural sensitivities of wherever they’ve been invited to perform sets a very dangerous precedent.”
Within weeks of the uproar, Future Sound Asia issued a letter to the band claiming breach of contract and demanding $2m. The band was paid $350,000 to perform.
