Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], July 23 : Malaysia cancelled the musical festival after the lead singer of the British band "The 1975" frontman Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate onstage and slammed the country for its anti-LGBTQ laws, CNN reported.
After this incident, Malaysia's Ministry of Communications cancelled the rest of the three-day event.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on Friday, captured in a video shared widely on social media, Healy said, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f***ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said addressing the audience. Healy added that the band considered cancelling the show but decided against it to not disappoint the fans, reported CNN.
“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f*** off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy says in the video before bassist Ross MacDonald walks up to him and kisses him on stage.
Following this act, the Good Vibes Festival, in a statement said, "We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of Good Vibes Festival 2023 (GVF2023), planned for today and tomorrow has been cancelled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975."
}}}}Official statement from @goodvibesfest pic.twitter.com/XqsWegteWt— Good Vibes Festival (@GoodVibesFest) July 22, 2023
It said that this decision adheres to the immediate cancellation Siac issued at 1:20 PM, 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. It further stated that the Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws.
Meanwhile, the reactions from the LGBTQ community in Malaysia were also not in the band's favour as they also criticized Healy’s actions, with some calling it “performative” and warning that it could lead to further discrimination, reported CNN.
A similar incident happened way back in 2019, Healy kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai, in defiance of the region’s anti-LGBT laws.
Healy later posted on Twitter: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”
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