The 1975 is currently touring around the world, but they seem to have run into a big problem as a Malaysian festival organizer filed a lawsuit against them months after they were banned from the country following Matty Healy's remarks about the anti-LGBTQIA+ laws.
According to NME, the organizer of Good Vibes Festival, Future Sound Asia, demanded the Manchester-based band to pay a whopping RM12.3 million or over $2,643,741.09 after the frontman's "indecent behavior" which caused the music event to be canceled.
The organizer's legal team confirmed that they issued a seven-day Letter of Claim before the legal battle begins in England.
In a statement, representative David Matthew told PA news agency that they were able to confirm that their lawyers have received "communication from the band's solicitors and we are continuing to pusue the matter," meaning the legal team of The 1975 is now working to resolve the problem.
Matthew then noted that the dispute resolution process is now "in progress" and they will not issue any comment as of this writing.
The 1975 Lawsuit in Malaysia
In a previous statement, the attorney told Malay Mail that frontman Matty Healy's representative provided a "pre-show written assurance" that he and his bandmates, Ross MacDonald, Adam Hann, and George Daniel, will follow all the necessary local "guidelines and regulations."
However, during their show, the written assurance was seemingly forgotten and ignored.
"The band's actions also clearly contravened the contract with FSA, which led to the cancellation of the festival and caused significant losses to FSA," the attorney added.
The 1975 Banned From Malaysia
The lawsuit comes after The 1975 performed at Good Vibes Festival, which was supposed to be a three-day music event. At the time, Matty Healy told the crowd that his band made a mistake when they were booking shows and he didn't see the point of inviting his group to a country that has anti-LGBTQIA+ laws.
The singer later insulted the Malaysian government and said that he doesn't care anymore.
Later that evening, he went on to kiss his bandmate, Ross MacDonald, on the lips. Moments later, their performance was cut and they were banned from the country.
The government of Malaysia then ordered the music event to be canceled even though there were still two more days left for the event.
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