The 1975’s Matthew Healy criticized homophobic Malaysian laws and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald for some 20 seconds during the band’s headline set at Good Vibes Festival yesterday, leading organizers to pull the set and authorities to cancel the festival’s remaining two days. Healy told the Kuala Lumpur crowd it was “fucking ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that and that,” gesturing to his crotch. “If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can fuck off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good, and I’m fucked off.”
When the set was cut short moments later, he said, “All right, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur. See you later.” Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital officially canceled the festival this afternoon (July 22).
Homosexuality is outlawed in Malaysia, with potential prison sentences of up to 20 years. A source close to the band said, “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and the community.”
Event organizer Future Sounds Asia said in a statement, reported by Billboard, that it fears the cancellation “will erode the confidence of music promoters and various stakeholders in the live entertainment industry across the nation and threaten the stability of our burgeoning live arts scene.” The Kid Laroi and the Strokes had been set to headline the second and third days.
The 1975’s next scheduled date is headlining We the Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, tomorrow.
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