The 1975 have responded to a lawsuit filed against them by the promoter of Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia, claiming they “did not know” an onstage same sex kiss between band members would cancel the event.
In July of this year it was revealed that the band were being sued for $2.4million (£1.9 million) by the festival organisers over the controversial incident last summer which saw frontman Matty Healy and bassist Ross MacDonald kiss onstage during the Malaysian music festival.
Healy also called out the Malaysian government for its hardline stance on gay rights.
The band were then forced to cut their set short, telling the crowd they “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur”. The following day, Good Vibes Festival cancelled the remainder of the three-day event.
The suit was filed in the UK’s High Court by Future Sound Asia (FSA), which claimed that the band were aware of the numerous restrictions in place, including smoking, swearing, drinking, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion.
Now the band have hit back at the lawsuit – a defence that was filed last month but has only just been made public – denying that the kiss was pre-planned while also claiming that they “did not know” the show would be cancelled, according to Law360.
They also argued that the rules they are accused of breaking were, on “face of it”, guidelines that “do not impose any obligation” on international acts.
The band went on to underline Healy’s history of speaking out about LGBTQ+ rights, explaining that promoters should not have booked a band whose actions could have lead to a revoked license.
Ultimately, the band rejected the claim that “the revocation of the licence for Good Vibes 2023 was a foreseeable consequence of any conduct of the band members”.
After the initial controversy, The 1975 were banned from performing in Malaysia. Last year, the group were also facing a class action lawsuit from Malaysian artists and vendors over the cancellation.
While performing at a festival in Hawaii last summer, Healy addressed the controversy directly when he told fans: “Me and Ross [MacDonald] nearly shaved our heads because we thought we were going to prison for being f*gs”.
During the Malaysia incident last year, Healy told the crowd that he did not “see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with”.
The festival announced its return this year, but was cancelled out of respect for the coronation of the new king.
Before the second cancellation, organisers declined to comment on The 1975 due to ongoing legal proceedings with the band, but told NME: “We’re not going to let this one bad incident ruin everything”.