The organiser of a Malaysian festival canceled after a kiss between two male members of The 1975 is seeking $2.7 million in damages from the British indie-rock band, its lawyer said Friday.
Homosexuality is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia and laws criminalising sodomy are punishable by imprisonment, while LGBTQ people in the country also face regular discrimination by authorities.
The Good Vibes music festival in Kuala Lumpur was cancelled after the band's frontman Matt Healy launched a profanity-laden speech and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald during their July 21 performance.
"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)," David Dinesh Mathew, lawyer for event organiser FSA said in a statement.
David said the claim filed on Monday against the band was "essentially for breach of contract".
Healy's representative signed a pre-show written assurance that the band would "adhere to all local guidelines and regulations" in their set, he said.
The cancellation of the festival after their show "had repercussions on local artists and small businesses" who had relied on the festival for their livelihoods, David added.
The band have until Monday to respond to the letter.
Healy had told Malaysian fans on stage that the band thought of pulling out of the festival on Friday, saying: "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 the singer for breaching local customs and moved to ban the group from the country.
Some in the LGBTQ community in Malaysia criticised Healy on social media, saying his actions had made their situation even more challenging.
The band cancelled shows in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Taiwan after the uproar.
The on-stage protest was not a first for Healy, who kissed a male fan at a 2019 concert in the United Arab Emirates, which also has tough anti-LGBTQ laws.
© 2023 AFP
21 Comments
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dagon
I think the Islamists enforcing their medieval scriptures edicts with violence, intimidation and coercion are doing a good enough job of that. Sounds like the LGBTQ community in Malaysia is suffering from a form of Muslim Stockholm Syndrome.
Good on him for confronting head on the contradictions of trying to have a modern consumer economy and supposed liberal democracy wedded to fundamentalist doctrine.
WA4TKG
Well, that went well for everyone, huh ?
Strangerland
Hard to respect a country that hates love.
Eastmann
they knew their law andrules so they will pay.
their country their rules their laws.
Larr Flint
I don't understand why the band members weren't arrested and prosecuted in Malaysia.
opheliajadefeldt
Larr FlintToday 09:56 am JST......................why even go there in the first place? And was it intentional to do this and upset the officials.
TheReds
Never even heard of this band.
Wandora
Love? Seriously? This was a largely unknown band trying to be edgy and failing miserably by deliberately breaking the country’s rules. Embarrassing, really. Just stick to music.
Jimizo
Disgraceful.
What a hateful approach.
Jimizo
Pretty big actually.
Platinum albums and number one positions in the charts in many countries.
Successful band.
Jeremiah
This band should take responsibility for their profane speech and kiss by paying in full what they now owe for their personal choices. Choices usually have consequences, and they should be adult enough to acknowledge this.
Jimizo
What profane speech?
餓死鬼
They're probably referring to this:
"Matt Healy launched a profanity-laden speech"
I'm not sure if a profane speech is the same as a profanity-laden speech.
ian
Ah
GBR48
Obey the local rules or pay the fine. The organisers should be able to recoup their cash from their insurer, who would in turn sue the band in the UK to recover the cash. If the insurance doesn't cover it, the organisers would have to sue them in the UK. They would have to pay, as the legal system is not a moral arbiter. They signed a statement to say that they would not do this, and did it. Breach of contract. Legal slam dunk. Tourist or working, obey local laws.
Marc Lowe
Why do so many musicians who are famous act like plonkers? The 1975 should've known not to do what they did. But, they went ahead and did it anyway. I believe the Malaysian government should extradite them and prosecute them to the fullest extent of their law. The band should also pay the hefty fine and promote Islam in TV commercials as part of their penalty. They totally ruined the festival for the peaceful locals in attendance with their atrocious behavior and flagrant disrespect for their host nation. Horrible. Just horrible.
Strangerland
Hard to respect a country that hates love. What a backwoods dump.
ClippetyClop
The band were not responsible for cancelling the event. The event was 'ruined' by the organizers.
Do you think the 'peaceful locals' wanted it to be cancelled because of a kiss?
Where should the Malaysian government extradite them to?
You sound very angry about people being gay / not muslim. And very unpleasant.
Jimizo
You do wonder about what some people in less bigoted countries think of the following:
Some seem to be a bit coy about their views on this. The argument ‘their country-their laws’ has some merit but maybe this appalling treatment of the LGBT community does deserve a passing comment at least
Strangerland
As with everything, any extreme is bad. Countries deserve criticism for their bad laws that don't respect human right, while also having the right to self determination and deciding what the rules of their land are.
Losers that are too low-intelligence to realize their opinions are entirely useless to humanity go to one extreme or the other.
gcFd1
This band knowingly breached its contract.