A TikToker says Matty Healy has a 'white savior complex' after his protest against anti-LGBTQ+ policies at a concert in Malaysia caused his fans further distress

• Matty Healy of The 1975 had a Malaysian music festival shut down after an on-stage demonstration about the country's anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
• A TikToker who said they grew up in Malaysia called out Healy for not researching Malaysian culture.

A Malaysian TikToker has gone viral with a video explaining why The 1975 frontman Matty Healy and his recent protest against anti-LGBTQ+ rules at a music festival in Kuala Lumpur was short-sighted.

After ranting onstage about the country's policies and kissing his bandmate Ross MacDonald in front of the crowd on Friday, officials asked the band to leave the stage. Healy was performing on the first night of the three-day Good Vibes festival, but his actions caused Malaysia's Ministry of Communications to cancel the festival entirely. The 1975 has since announced it will also be canceling upcoming shows in Taiwan and Indonesia.

According to The Guardian, Malaysia's laws against homosexuality make it punishable by 20 years of prison time.

While some internet users declared Healy a hero "for standing upfor LGBTQ+ rights" in Malaysia, the TikToker @akidnamedrufus has drawn support for an impassioned explanation of why the situation is much more complicated — and why Healy's protest may have caused more distress and damage to Malaysian people.

The TikToker said they are uniquely qualified to speak on the subject because they grew up in Malaysia and now live in the US, and are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

"I've seen both sides of this; I want to give my opinion on this," they said.

The TikToker argued that Healey's demonstration "has set a precedent" about the power that Malaysian authorities will wield when it comes to prohibiting activity supporting the LGBTQ+ community. They said it's likely the country's entertainment industry will pause all music shows for a couple of months.

The poster also accused the singer of having "white savior complex" by doing little to no research about a country's culture before trying to take a stand against it.

"No, Matty Healy, you're a fucking idiot," @Akidnamedrufuscalled said. "Do you have any idea what the repercussions of the situation are? Do you have any idea how difficult it is for queer people to exist now?"

The TikToker concluded by asking people not to laud him for this protest.

"I am not gonna let this narrative of him being a hero go through," the TikToker said. "You have fucked things up for thousands of people that live back home," they added.

Commenters uniformly agreed with the TikToker. One top comment compared the situation to a single troublemaker in class getting the rest of his classmates sent to detention. Other users said they weren't sure what to make of the incident before and thanked the TikToker for sharing their unique perspective.

"Didn't think of it like that and I'm 100% with you, planned on seeing them in Seattle later on but I'm just tired of it," one commenter wrote.

Another comment said Healy could have at the very least "wait[ed] until the very end of the set so the fans wouldn't miss out on the show."

Other TikTokers also made videos expressing frustration and anger at Healy's behavior. An attendee of the show, @banubino, uploaded more clips of his rant — including Healy saying he was "furious" and refusing to play uplifting songs because of how mad he was. They claimed he was disrespectful in other ways, too, like smoking and vomiting on stage.

"Guys it was a music festival with a lot of other local and international artists in the lineup," the TikToker wrote in the video's description. "He came for only a 30 mins show and got everything cancelled, including the next 2 days ... Honestly, he ruined it for everyone."

Insider has reached out to Healy and his team for comment.