GVF Organiser Sues The 1975 For RM11.2 Million Over Frontman Matty Healy's On-Stage Antics
The lawsuit has been filed in the UK High Court.
By Sadho Ram — 31 Jul 2024, 03:27 PM
The organiser of Good Vibes Festival (GVF) has filed an RM11,239,181 lawsuit against The 1975 pop band and all its members individually following frontman Matty Healy's on-stage antics on 21 July 2023, which resulted in the government cancelling the festival entirely
Healy had kissed his male bandmate Ross MacDonald on stage at the festival and called the Malaysian government a "bunch of f-cking r-tards" in his criticism of local anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
According to court documents sighted by American magazine Variety, GVF organiser Future Sounds Asia (FSA) is seeking 1.9 million pounds in the UK High Court, claiming that the British band and its management team were informed of the numerous prohibitions the band had to abide by in order to perform in Malaysia.
In the filing, FSA pointed out that the band performed at the festival in 2016 and were informed of restrictions such as swearing, smoking and drinking on stage, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion at that time. They were reminded multiple times again ahead of the performance in 2023, it said.
The band, which was paid USD350,000 (approximately RM1,612,450), agreed to adhere to the rules in order to perform at the festival
The lawsuit states that the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL) initially rejected the band's application to perform due to a 2018 article about Healy's drug addiction but approved it after the band promised to adhere to "all local guidelines and regulations".
However, the lawsuit says the night before the festival, The 1975 decided they "should not perform at the music festival" and in protest, they decided to play "a completely different setlist", reported Variety.
FSA also alleges that the band acted in ways that were intended to breach the PUSPAL guidelines, including Healy taking part in a "long pretend passionate embrace" with his bandmate MacDonald and smuggling a bottle of wine onto the stage next to the main drum kit so Healy "could have easy access".
The lawsuit accuses Healy of not only "drinking alcohol, appear[ing] to vomit on the stage, delivering a profanity-laden speech" but also of behaving "very aggressive[ly]" towards PUSPAL officers.
According to the filing, when the band was ordered to stop its performance, Healy became aggressive to the point that he was "swearing at [PUSPAL officers] and others" and had to be restrained by his managers.
