Matty Healy's Same-Sex Onstage Kiss Gets Malaysia Music Fest Canceled
Matty Healy Same-Sex Onstage Kiss Gets Malaysia Music Festival Canceled
Matty Healy kissed a dude onstage during a Malaysian music festival -- in protest, no doubt -- and now ... the whole thing's been scrapped for the rest of the weekend.
The 1975 front man was performing with his band Friday in Kuala Lumpur, as part of the Good Vibes Festival that was running through Sunday. Unfortunately, the rest of the performers who were booked won't be taking the stage because of what went down.
Matty Healy speech at Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia#The1975
— p 🐋 (@onmymind75) July 21, 2023 @onmymind75
pic.twitter.com/ZxJF6tPLjD
Throughout their set, Matty made it clear he was pretty pissed about the country's anti-LGBT laws -- which have criminalized homosexual acts, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
He ranted on camera ... and the dude ripped the Asian country a new one, while also promising to perform angry songs as a result -- apologizing to the crowd for having to bear the brunt of his rage. He said there were likely gay people in the audience that night.
1975 banned from Kuala Lumpur for breaching the country's laws
— TheViralLens (@TheViralLens) July 22, 2023 @TheViralLens
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia
During the set, singer Matty Healy kissed bassist Ross Mcdonald ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fmIX15u3c8
Eventually, he hit his point home by locking lips with his bassist, Ross McDonald ... launching into a full-blown make-out sesh in front of everyone, which got oohs and ahhs.
It wasn't long after that the 1975 abruptly left the stage ... only to see Matty briefly return to announce what was going on. He said they'd been banned, and that the show was over.
The 1975 has been banned from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after Matty Healy gave a speech calling out the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald onstage:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 21, 2023 @PopBase
“Alright we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later” pic.twitter.com/szflAj2iFT
Unfortunately for everyone ... this ended up getting the whole festival nixed, at the behest of the government. The festival organizers issued a statement, laying the blame squarely at Matty's feet, saying ... "We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975."
They add, "This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued ... by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws." The Comms Minister is also quoted as saying they won't take stars "(touching) on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture."
While you'd think Matty might be getting nothing praise, you'd be wrong ... he's actually catching a lot of flak for what some say was nothing but a performative stunt/posturing -- knowing full well they'd probably get kicked out, and ruin everyone else's good time.