The 1975 respond to lawsuit and say they they ‘did not know’ same sex kiss would cancel Good Vibes festival

The 1975 have responded to a lawsuit filed against the band by Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival, claiming they “did not know” that an onstage same sex kiss between band members would cancel event.

It was revealed in July this year that the group face a $2.4 million (£1.9 million) lawsuit from the festival after frontman Matty Healy and bassist Ross MacDonald kissed onstage in July 2023 in protest against the country’s strict anti-LGBTQ laws.

The incident forced the band to cut their set short and tell fans they “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur”. A day later, organisers cancelled the remainder of the three-day event.

A new lawsuit filed in the UK High Court by Future Sound Asia (FSA) claims that the band were aware of the supposed restrictions in place, which drinking, smoking, swearing, removing clothing and talking about politics or religion.

Now, the band have directly hit back at the lawsuit. In a defence that was filed last month but has only just become public, the group denied the kiss was pre-planned and said they “did not know” the show would be cancelled.

They also argued that the rules they stand accused of breaking “do not impose any obligation” on international acts at the festival.

The 1975 went out to outline Healy’s noted history for speaking about LGBTQ+ rights and claimed that this reputation alone – and the subsequent risk of a revoked license – meant that promoters should not have booked them.

All of these reasons, the band explained, were part of the reason why they rejected the claim that “the revocation of the licence for Good Vibes 2023 was a foreseeable consequence of any conduct of the band members”.

Speaking at a show last October, Healy said that he was “pissed off, to be frank”, over the incident.

Healy said: “The 1975 did not waltz [into] Malaysia unannounced, they were invited to headline a festival by a government who had full knowledge of the band with its well-publicised political views and its routine stage show. Malaysian festival organisers’ familiarity with the band was the basis of our invitation.

“Me kissing Ross was not a stunt simply meant to provoke the government, it was an ongoing part of The 1975 which has been performed many times prior. Similarly, we did not change our set that night to play, you know, pro-freedom of speech or pro-gay songs.

“To eliminate any routine part of the show in an effort to appease the Malaysian authorities’ bigoted views of LGBTQ people would be a passive endorsement of those politics. As liberals are so fond of saying, ‘Silence causes violence, use your platform’, so we did that.”