The 1975 frontman Matty Healy not personally liable for KL music festival cancellation
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British band The 1975's frontman Matty Healy kissed his bandmate onstage at the Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia in July 2023.
PHOTO: JORDAN CURTIS HUGHES
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The members of British band The 1975 cannot be held personally liable for the losses incurred when the Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia was shut down by the authorities, after frontman Matty Healy kissed a bandmate onstage, a judge in London ruled on Feb 24.
The pop-rock quartet, known for songs like Chocolate (2013) and Somebody Else (2016), made headlines after they performed at the music festival in Kuala Lumpur in July 2023. Healy had addressed the audience in an expletive-laden speech before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald.
The incident led to the cancellation of the festival
According to British news outlet BBC, festival organiser Future Sound Asia (FSA) is seeking damages of £1.9 million (S$3.2 million) in “substantial losses”.
The band’s lawyer argued that since FSA had a contract only with the band’s company and not the individual members, they should not be personally liable.
On Feb 24, Judge William Hansen agreed that claims against the band members should be dropped, but allowed the case to proceed against the company.
Footage of the band during the festival showed Healy, 35, saying that playing in Malaysia was a “mistake”. “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” he added.
Healy then kissed MacDonald, 35. Soon after, their set was cut short, after 30 minutes. The rest of the festival was called off. The band, which cancelled concerts in Indonesia and Taiwan following the incident, have since been blacklisted in Malaysia.
Healy later said the band’s actions were in support of the LGBT community. Yet, many Malaysians, including LGBT activists and allies in the country, have criticised his behaviour as indicative of a “white saviour complex”. Some said his performance further alienated queer Malaysians from the mainstream and potentially left them vulnerable to even stricter restrictions.
FSA’s lawyer said The 1975 agreed to refrain from swearing, smoking, drinking, taking off their clothes or talking about religion and politics onstage when they first agreed to play the festival in 2016.
Yet, for their 2023 appearance – originally meant to be an hour-long set that paid them £274,000 – FSA said the band intentionally misbehaved, even smuggling a bottle of wine onstage. It added that the band “deliberately behaved in a way to challenge and provoke the Malaysian authorities”.
The court also heard that the Malaysian authorities had initially refused to let the band perform amid reports of Healy’s recovery from drug addiction. But they acquiesced after the band promised he would adhere to all guidelines and regulations asked of him.
This is not the first time the singer has done something controversial onstage in a conservative country. In 2019, while performing in the United Arab Emirates, where homosexual sex is criminalised, he ventured into the audience and kissed a male fan on the lips.
