The 1975 is being sued for $2.4 million after Matty Healy’s on-stage kiss in Malaysia
A lawsuit has been filed against The 1975 as a whole as well as each member individually
The 1975 is being sued for $2.4 million after frontman Matty Healy shared an on-stage kiss with a bandmate while performing in Malaysia last year.
Healy performed the act at the Good Vibes Festival last July in defiance of Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws. The kiss with bassist Ross MacDonald led to the band being banned from performing in the country and the remaining two days of the festival being shut down.
In Malaysia, homosexuality is illegal. Same-sex relations can result in fines, or prison sentences up to 20 years.
As per Variety on Tuesday (30 July) a lawsuit has been filed with the UK’s High Court by Future Sound Asia. It is against the band as a whole as well as each member individually. Variety has reported that the lawsuit claims the band was aware of various things the band couldn’t do and had agreed to them.
Such prohibitions from the Malaysia Central Agency for the Application for Foreign Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL) include drinking, smoking, and discussing politics onstage. They also include “kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves.” The lawsuit also claims that The 1975 wanted to pull out just before the festival but changed their mind. The band, the lawsuit claims, proceeded to “act in a way that were intended to breach the Guidelines,” and did so “with the intention of causing offence and breaching the regulations and the terms of the agreement.”
Future Sound Asia has also said that Healy was “aggressive” when asked to stop performing after the kiss. He is also said to have smoked and drunk alcohol onstage. The festival organisers later demanded $2 million for breach of contract.
“Doing the right thing often requires quite a lot of sacrifice and very little reward” – Matty Healy
Attitude has contacted The 1975 for comment. The BBC reported that the band has said “they have nothing to add at this time.”
The kiss did upset some of Malaysia’s LGBTQ+ community. The drag queen Carmen Rose said the kiss would give conservative politicians “ammo” to further push “a homophobic agenda.” Speaking to the BBC last year Rose added, “It’s giving white saviour complex. He wasn’t doing it for our community.” However, in a piece for Attitude, Suri Chan, who is LGBTQ+ wrote that Healy didn’t disrespect anyone.
Healy went on to defend his actions last August. He told an audience in Hawaii, “I don’t give a f**k about any white saviour complex b******s. What I’ll say is that doing the right thing often requires quite a lot of sacrifice and very little reward. And being seen to do the right thing requires very little sacrifice, and that’s when you get all the rewards.”
It’s not the first time Healy has defied anti-LGBTQ+ laws in a country The 1975 have performed in. In a 2019 show in Dubai – where homosexuality can be punished with 10 years in prison – he kissed a male fan.