KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Frontman for English pop rock band The 1975, Matt Healy has fired another salvo against Malaysian authorities, calling them “bigoted” for cutting short the band’s concert at the Good Vibes Festival (GVF) last July.
Healy stirred controversy after publicly kissing his bandmate Ross MacDonald at the GVF, which led Malaysia to ban the British band from performing in the country and cancelling the remaining two days of the three-day music festival.
On Tuesday, Healy again defended his antics to be “an ongoing part of The 1975 stage show” and not “a stunt simply meant to provoke the government”.
This time around, he also claimed that the Malaysian authorities “briefly imprisoned” the band members after the incident.
“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.
“Similarly, we did not change our set that night to play, you know, pro-freedom speech or pro-gay songs.
“To eliminate any part of the show in an effort to appease the Malaysian authorities’ bigoted views of the LGBTQ people would be a passive endorsement of those politics,” Variety quoted Healy telling a concert in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.
Following the incident, The 1975 received brickbats from Malaysian fans and the general public with police reports lodged against the act.
On July 25, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay thad old reporters that the police could not take action against the British band as they had left Malaysia for the UK within six hours after their concert was stopped.
In August, GVF organiser Future Sound Asia also filed a lawsuit against The 1975, seeking RM12.3 million in damages within seven days.
