An attorney for The 1975 says frontman Matt Healy and his bandmates cannot be held responsible for the cancellation of the July 2023 Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, which was shut down by authorities after Healy kissed one of his male bandmates on stage, violating the country’s ban on same-sex relationships.
As a result of the kiss, the festival, organized by production and entertainment company Future Sound Asia, was forced to close after the first night of what was supposed to be a three-night run. According to reports, lawyers for Future Sound Asia have argued in a lawsuit that the band breached their performance contract for the event and are liable for £1.9 million in losses.
But in a hearing on Wednesday (Feb. 19) in the country’s High Court, according to The Independent, The 1975’s attorney, Edmund Cullen, called the claim an “illegitimate, artificial and incoherent” extortion attempt “to pin liability on individuals” instead of the band’s touring company The 1975 Productions, which holds the contract with the festival. Cullen said the court should drop the claims against the individual members of the band and go after its limited partnership company instead. During the hearing, Cullen reportedly added that Future Sound Asia’s claims are “really quite bizarre.”
“The allegations of breaches of a duty of care are not breaches of a duty of care at all,” Cullen told the court, according to The Independent. “They are breaches of Malaysian statutes and guidelines. That is why this claim is completely artificial against my clients.”
Andrew Burns, an attorney for the festival organizer, reportedly argued in a written submission that the band “deliberately behaved in a way to challenge and provoke the Malaysian authorities.” He accused the band, which first performed at the festival in 2016, of bringing a bottle of wine on stage and performing a “second-rate set of songs” to “punish and upset the Malaysian audience and authorities.”He added that The 1975 was paid $350,000 for the one-hour performance, while the festival endured “substantial losses.”
Burns added that the Malaysian government originally refused to let the band perform but changed course after Healy allegedly agreed to follow local laws.
A ruling in the hearing is expected in the coming days.