The 1975 are being sued for $2.7 million in damages following Matty Healy's same-sex kiss on stage in Malaysia, which led to an entire festival being canceled.
The Good Vibes festival had been pulled days before it was due to finish after Healy made a speech about homosexuality, which is illegal in Malaysia, before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald on stage in front of thousands of onlookers.
The three-day event was later canceled by Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital, with the festival saying in a statement: 'The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws… we sincerely apologise to all our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners. We are aware of the time, energy and efforts you have put into making this festival a success, and we value your steadfast support.'
Future Sound Asia (FSA), organizers of the event, are suing the band for allegedly breaching a contract which promised that they would adhere to "all local guidelines and regulations."
FSA claims it received a "pre-show written assurance" that the performance would adhere to local guidelines, which was broken, and claimed it was also down to Healy's "abusive language, equipment damage, and indecent stage behavior".
David Dinesh Mathew, a lawyer for FSA, said in a statement shared by the Guardian: "I can confirm that my firm issued a seven-day letter of claim to the UK band 1975 demanding for RM12.3 million ($2.68 million) in damages on behalf of Future Sound Asia (FSA)."
He added that the cancelation of the festival following The 1975's set "had repercussions on local artists and small businesses" who relied on the festival for their livelihoods.
The 1975 now have until Monday to respond to the letter or the FSA will pursue legal proceedings in an English court.
Healy's controversial kiss came after he told fans at the festival that the band had thought about pulling out of the performance, adding: "I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."
Malaysian government ministers condemned Healy's behavior and moved to ban the group from the country, and The 1975 subsequently canceled upcoming shows in Indonesia and Taiwan.
It is not the first time Healy has taken part in an on-stage protest against strict anti-LGBTQ+ laws, as he previously kissed a male fan on stage in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
Healy addressed the backlash at a concert in Honolulu, claiming he and MacDonald had considered shaving their heads in case they were sent to prison over the stunt.
He told fans, as reported by Metro: "Doing the right thing… requires quite a lot of sacrifice. All I’ll say is that I don’t give a f**k about any white savior 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.
"And me and Ross nearly shaved our heads because we thought we were going to prison for being f**s."
The band are yet to respond publicly to the claim.
Featured image credit: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic
