The 1975 have responded to the lawsuit filed against them by the promoter of the Malaysian festival where their performance caused controversy last year. It was not foreseeable, the band argue, that that controversy would result in the rest of the Good Vibes festival being shut down by the authorities.
Future Sound Asia sued the band in July. The promoter argues that The 1975 broke strict rules governing their performance, which is why the authorities cut short their set and subsequently withdrew the entire event’s licence, resulting in the rest of the festival being cancelled. Therefore, it says, the band should be held liable for the costs associated with the cancellation.
In their response, according to Law360, the band say that the rules referred to by Future Sound Asia are, on the “face of it”, simply guidelines used when promoters in Malaysia apply for approval for foreign artists to play in the country.
However, those guidelines “do not impose any obligation on foreign artistes that is capable of being enforced against such foreign artistes”. On that basis, The 1975 reject the claim that “the revocation of the licence for Good Vibes 2023 was a foreseeable consequence of any conduct of the band members”.
During the band’s Good Vibes 2023 set, frontman Matty Healy spoke out about Malaysia's anti-LGBTQ+ laws, telling his audience “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with”.
He then kissed bandmate Ross MacDonald on the mouth, adding, “I am sorry if that offends you and you’re religious and it’s part of your fucking government, but your government are a bunch of fucking retards and I don’t care anymore”.
In its lawsuit, Future Sound Asia said that the band had been made aware of rules set by the Malaysian government agency that approves performances by foreign artists, known as PUSPAL, and had agreed to abide by them. Among other things, the rules ban speaking about religion or politics, and drinking alcohol, on stage, all of which Healy did during his set, the promoter argued.
In addition to portraying the rules as mere guidelines, The 1975 also argue that Healy is famously outspoken on LGBTQ+ issues and therefore the promoter should have anticipated that he would make comments in that domain. If it knew that would result in its licence being withdrawn, Good Vibes shouldn’t have booked the band.
The new court filing also counters some other claims in the promoter’s lawsuit. It insists that Healy kissing MacDonald was a spur of the moment action, rather than a pre-planned protest. It also claims that, while there was a wine bottle on stage during the band’s performance, it was a prop and contained a non-alcoholic liquid.
Future Sound Asia filed its lawsuit against The 1975 through the London courts. The band’s defence was filed last month but made public this week.
