Matty Healy Faces Potential Lawsuit After Malaysian Music Festival Cancellation

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The 1975 British is facing a potential class-action lawsuit. Matty Healy kissed an onstage bandmate, causing the Malaysia government to cancel an entire festival in Kuala Lumpur.

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00:00 The 1975 British pop rock band fronted by Matti Healy is facing a potential class action

00:05 lawsuit.

00:06 The artist's kiss with an onstage bandmate caused the Malaysian government to cancel

00:10 an entire festival in Kuala Lumpur.

00:16 The 1975's deemed controversial onstage kiss has resulted in the band being banned from

00:22 performing in the country.

00:23 On top of that, there is now a police investigation into what happened now that a Malaysian attorney

00:28 announced a lawsuit on behalf of the now-cancelled vendors due to Healy's actions.

00:33 It's Daniel Lawani reporting with all the details.

00:35 This all began when the 1975 set in Malaysia on July 21st came to an abrupt end after frontman

00:41 Matti Healy spoke out against the country's stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

00:45 After a long rant to the crowd about the government of the country, Healy kissed bandmate Ross

00:50 McDonald for an extended period of time.

00:58 From there, the set ended half an hour early, telling the audience before leaving the stage

01:01 that they were "banned from Kuala Lumpur."

01:04 And this is not the first time Healy has spoken out against another government.

01:08 Back in 2019, the frontman also broke an anti-LGBTQ law in United Arab Emirates by going to the

01:14 crowd during a show in Dubai kissing a male concertgoer.

01:17 But the outcome for this has been far different.

01:20 As of this time, same-sex relationships are illegal in Malaysia and in states imposing

01:24 Islamic Sharia law.

01:26 Some are punishable up to 20 years in prison, and some may even be subject to caning.

01:30 And now, Malaysian attorney Matthew Thomas-Philip announced a lawsuit on behalf of Malaysian

01:35 artists and festival vendors against the 1975.

01:38 The Good Vibes Festival ended up being cancelled by the country's administrative communications

01:42 for the remainder of the three-day festival due to the group's actions on stage.

01:46 While international artists who had been booked were paid prior to the event, payment terms

01:50 are different for local artists.

01:52 As of now, there are more than five artists and five vendors who joined the suit, which

01:56 seeks general damages as well as exemplary and aggravated damages.

02:01 There is a potential for other lawsuits to follow as well.

02:03 A spokesperson for Future Sound Asia told Billboard that the cancellation has led to

02:07 heavy financial losses this year, and it could also limit future concerts in the country

02:12 going forward.

02:13 Organizers of the event also said the group went against the terms of their deal by speaking,

02:17 saying, "Prior to the festival, the 1975 management team reassured us that Healy and

02:21 the band would adhere to local performance guidelines.

02:24 Regrettably, Healy did not honor these assurances, despite our trust in their commitment.

02:29 Healy's actions took us by complete surprise, and we halted the show as promptly as feasible

02:34 following the incident."

02:35 The 1975 cancelled the remainder of their Asia dates due to the fallout.

02:39 Other LGBTQ groups of Malaysia have called out Healy, claiming he did more harm than

02:43 good in his actions.

02:44 We'll keep you updated on this story and so much more at What's Trending.

02:47 Thanks for watching!

02:51 (boom)

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