Matty Healy's defiance at the Malaysian festival leads to a legal battle

The controversial lead singer of the band The 1975 has faced consequences. Matty Healy criticized the local anti-LGBTQ+ laws during a festival in Malaysia and also kissed guitarist Ross MacDonald. Now, the organizers are suing the singer.

Artists and celebrities sometimes feel they can do more than ordinary citizens: drugs, parties, publicly expressing controversial opinions, and breaking laws. Although they sometimes manage to avoid tickets for illegal driving or disturbing the peace at night, more serious offences are punished just as harshly as in the case of any person. The singer and frontman of the band The 1975, Matty Healy, found this out.

On July 18, 2023, the band The 1975 performed at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event's regulations included a ban on discussing political and religious topics, as well as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and cursing on stage. Matty Healy seems to be against these types of bans. At The 1975 concerts, there is no shortage of curses or alcohol.

Malaysia is known, among other things, for having a strict policy against the LGBTQ+ community, which did not sit well with the British singer. Healy said on stage that he had considered cancelling the performance but did not want to disappoint his Malaysian fans: "I don't see the [expletive] point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with. Unfortunately you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I'm [expletive] furious." Matty Healy also added that he knows the audience does not represent the government. The artist then kissed bassist Ross MacDonald.

The behaviour of Matty Healy led to the cancellation of the rest of the Good Vibes festival. Now the company that organized the event demands compensation of £1.9 million, over CAD 3.25 million. The case has been referred to a British court. The lawsuit stated that the artist deliberately broke the event's regulations. Future Sound Asia also cited the guidelines set by the Central Agency for Filming and Performance Permits for Foreign Artists in Malaysia, which prohibit "kissing, kissing a member of the audience, or performing such acts among themselves."