Good Vibes organiser sues The 1975 for RM11m

The organiser of Good Vibes Asia 2023 has sued British pop rock band The 1975 and all its members individually in a court in the United Kingdom over its controversial performance in July last year.

According to the entertainment magazine Variety, the court document filed by Future Sound Asia in the UK High Court seeks US$2.4 million (RM11 million) after the band’s antics caused the festival to shut down.

The organiser is claiming that The 1975 (above) and their management team were aware of the numerous prohibitions that need to be followed to perform in Malaysia.

Aside from having previously performed in 2016, the band was also repeatedly reminded ahead of last year’s show, the filing said.

In August last year, the organiser gave The 1975 a seven-day ultimatum to cough up RM12.3 million for an alleged breach of contract linked to their controversial performance.

Failure to do so would result in a civil suit in the band's home country, the organiser's counsel David Dinesh Mathew had said.

According to the lawsuit, the prohibitions include no swearing, smoking and drinking on stage, taking off clothes and talking about politics or religion. In addition, there was also a ban on kissing, kissing a member of the audience or carrying out such actions among themselves.

The 1975 reportedly agreed to abide by the rules set in return for a US$350,000 (RM1.6 million) payment.

Breach of guidelines

The lawsuit said the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) had initially rejected the band's application to perform last July due to a 2018 report about its lead singer Matt Healy's drug addiction and subsequent recovery.

However, the band appealed, and Healy promised he would adhere to all guidelines and regulations, which caused the application to be greenlit.

The night before the festival, The 1975 decided it "should not perform" at the festival, before changing its mind to go ahead with the performance, said the document.

It added that the band played a "completely different setlist" and carried out acts that breached the guidelines, including Healy kissing bassist Ross MacDonald and ranting about Malaysia's LGBTQ+ laws.

The lawsuit also alleged that the band planned to smuggle a bottle of wine onto the stage to grant "easy access" to Healy, who also allegedly acted in a "drunken way, appeared to vomit on stage, and/or grunt and spit excessively including towards the audience, delivered a profanity-laden speech, and deliberately damaged a video drone hired by the festival organisers”.

According to the document, Healy also behaved "very aggressively" towards and swore at Puspal officers who stopped the band's performance following the kissing stunt and had to be restrained by his managers.

The band and its management also "rushed to the hotel" immediately after the stunt, hoping to fly back home the next morning as they were aware their performance had breached Malaysian laws, said the filing.

Following the band's antics, the government ordered the immediate cancellation of the remaining two days of the Good Vibes Festival.

Variety said that The 1975 has yet to file a defence to the lawsuit, and its representative declined to comment.

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