- Malaysian government officials cancelled the remainder of the Good Vibes Festival.
- The cancellation came after The 1975's Matty Healy kissed bandmember Ross MacDonald on stage.
After The 1975's Matty Healy kissed bandmate Ross MacDonald during a performance, Malaysian officials cancelled the remainder of a major music festival.
The controversial kiss happened at the Good Vibes Festival, a three-day festival showcasing multiple performers at Kuala Lumpur's Sepang International Circuit. The 1975 were the headliner at Friday's performance, but the weekend lineup originally included other major artists like Daniel Caesar, The Strokes, The Kid Laroi, and Ty Dolla $ign.
Before Healy and MacDonald kissed, Healy spoke at length about the country's anti-LGBTQ+ policies, criticizing the government: "I made a mistake when we were booking shows. I wasn't looking into it," Healy said to a mixture of applause and dismayed sounds. "I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."
The two bandmates then shared a prolonged kiss, which has since been uploaded in multiple videos to Twitter.
"Okay, we have to go, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur," said Healy after a brief interlude before exiting the stage.
The interruption is far from Healy's first onstage stunt, and the singer is no stranger to controversy. Earlier this year, in January, he appeared to do a Nazi salute shortly after calling Irish people "simple" at a Dublin concert, according to reporting from The Independent. In May, Healy came under heavy fire for a podcast interview where he said he masturbated to porn of "brutalized" women and made derogatory comments about Asian people.
'The kiss went on for a long while'
Concertgoers described the event as "wild" and Healy as "erratic."
"He cursed out the government for telling him he can't suck dick in Malaysia, then kissed his bassist. The kiss went on for a long while. People cheered, but the cameras cut shortly after that," said Bernice Lim, a Singaporean music fan who was at the Good Vibes Festival, told Insider. "I don't know enough about him, and I guess he's a colorful character, but it's wild that I saw The 1975 get banned in Malaysia right before my eyes."
Joseph Tan, another attendee at the Good Vibes Festival, told Insider the crowd seemed to be mixed in their opinion of Healy's "erratic" statement — with some "cheering him on" and others "visibly uncomfortable."
"I think they've likely left the country," Tan said. "But they might've gotten arrested if they stayed in the country. It's Malaysia."
Malaysia still widely restricts the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including funding conversion therapy for gender and sexuality, according to the Human Rights Watch 2022 World Report. Federal law still punishes sex that violates "the order of nature" with up to 20 years in prison and whipping, while state and federal Islamic laws criminalize homosexuality and gender nonconformity, the report adds. At one point in 2019, the country's tourism minister said there were no gay people in Malaysia.
'This was a very barbaric action'
The festival released a short statement addressed to festival attendees via their Instagram.
"We regret that 'The 1975' performance had to be cut short due to non-compliance with local performance guidelines," the statement read.
Malaysia's Minister of Communications and Digital Fahmi Fadzil, tweeted after the event expressing his displeasure at the situation. "This was a very barbaric action," reads the translated tweet. "I have called the organizer to give an explanation tomorrow and will be contacting the authorities for a full report."
Just hours later, Fadzil announced he had ordered the cancellation of the event's weekend lineup, effectively ending the festival.
"I want to stress, the position of the Unity Government is very clear. There is no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws," Fadzil said in a tweet.
Fadzil continued, urging the organizing companies to issue refunds to ticket holders: "The government is always committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression," Fadzil tweeted. "However, never touch the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the manners and values of the local culture."
Twitter was quickly abuzz with the news, with many apparent concertgoers upset about the cancellation. Most mentioned the loss of money many attendees would face — not just for their tickets but also for travel and accommodation.
"Too heavy handed," tweeted one user. "Organizers did the right thing cutting short the show. But why cancel the whole event? All the tix purchaser who had to travel, hotels already paid for. You are a tyrant."
Similarly, some commenters were concerned about the impact of the cancellation on future concerts in Malaysia — that the threat of cancellation could deter events from being held there.
Others were angry at Healy, suggesting he lacked knowledge of Malaysian culture. "Wow, thanks a lot, The 1975. You have officially made it very difficult for Malaysia to have anymore international concerts," added another user.
The Malaysian government and representatives of The 1975 and the Good Vibes Festival did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.