Members of the British band The 1975 cannot be personally liable for losses of a Malaysian music festival, which was closed by the authorities after the singer Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate on stage. A London judge decided on Monday.
The organizer of the Good Vibe Festival is looking for £ 1.9 million ($ 3.4 million) after Healy criticized the country’s anti-homosexuality laws and then kissed the bass player Ross Macdonald on the Kuala Lumpur Show in July 2023 .
The film material of the kiss triggered a counter reaction in the predominantly Muslim country in which homosexuality is a crime that is punished with up to 20 years in prison and caning. Some 2SLGBTQ+ Groups also criticized the band because they endangered its community and disrupted the work of activists who urged themselves to change.
Future Sound Asia (FSA) sued the 1975 Productions LLP in front of the High Court for breach of contract and said that his four members were due to a diligent obligation. But the band’s lawyer argued that the lawsuit should only aim at the company – not on the musicians.
Judge William Hansen said that the claims against the band members are “bad as legal issues and that there is no good reason why the matter should go to court”. However, he had the case against the company, but ordered the FSA to pay 100,000 pounds ($ 179,000) in legal costs.
O’clock | Matt Healy speaks to CBCs Q About the sincerity:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqzqkxzjo0a
The volume lawyer Edmund Cullen had argued that the claim was an “illegal, artificial and incoherent” attempt “for liability for individuals”, since the FSA only had one contract with the band’s company.
Andrew Burns, the FSA lawyer, said the authorities initially refused to have the band performed due to reports on Healys drug addiction and subsequent recovery. After promised, she gave in to follow guidelines and regulations, he said.
When the band played the same festival in 2016, they had agreed, not to swear, smoke, drink, take off clothes or talk about religion and politics on stage, said Burns.
Burns said the band intentionally provoked the Malaysian authorities in 2023 by talking a bottle of wine on the stage and through Healys “obscene” and smuggling through the kiss. He said the band also played a “second -class songs” to upset the crowd.
“They could be said that they were found instead of acting as LLP members in the course of their ordinary role,” said Burns.
The band should receive £ 276,000 ($ 494,000) for a one-hour set, said Burns.
The show was not the first time that Healy made a political explanation on behalf of 2SLGBTQ+ Right: he kissed a male fan at a concert from 2019 in the United Arab Emirates that banned same -sex sexual activities.
After the show in the Malaysian capital, the concerts in Taiwan and Jakarta, Indonesia in 1975.
The Malaysian government put the band on the black list.
