The 1975 got into some trouble while in Malaysia last summer. At the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, after expressing frustration over Malaysia’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights, Matty Healy and bandmate Ross MacDonald shared a 20-second kiss as the audience cheered. This resulted in the festival organizers’ license getting revoked, which forced the cancellation of the festival’s final two days.
Shortly after, it was reported that festival organizer Future Sound Asia (FSA) was “pursuing a claim against the British band calling on them to acknowledge liability and compensate FSA for damages incurred,” claiming the incident “tarnished” the festival’s reputation and that they ‘intentionally contravened the agreement [the band] had with FSA.'”
Sure enough, it’s happening: As Variety reports, FSA has filed a lawsuit against the band and all of its members individually in the UK High Court.
The suit alleges the band and their management team were made aware of rules by which the band had to abide in order to perform, including no “swearing, smoking and drinking on stage, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion.” Guidelines issues by the Malaysia Central Agency For The Application For Foreign Filming And Performance By Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL) also prohibit “kissing, kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves.”
The paperwork claims the band decided to “act in way that were intended to breach the Guidelines” including Healy making a “provocative speech” and taking part in a “long pretend passionate embrace” with MacDonald “with the intention of causing offence and breaching the regulations and the terms of the agreement.”
The suit also accuses Healy of drinking alcohol, acting “in a drunken way,” smoking cigarettes, “appear[ing] to vomit on the stage and/or grunt and spit excessively including towards the audience,” giving a “profanity-laden speech,” and more.
A representative from the band reportedly declined Variety‘s request for comment.