Photo: Matty Healy | By Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone / Yahoo | The remainder of Kuala Lumpur’s Good Vibes music festival was canceled Saturday by the Malaysian government following comments made onstage by the 1975’s Matty Healy slamming the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Organizers said in a statement Saturday that following Healy’s “controversial conduct and remarks,” Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital issued an “immediate cancellation directive” that forced the three-day festival to shut down.
“The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule or contravene Malaysian laws,” organizers added.
“Prior to the festival, the 1975 management team reassured us that Healy and the band would adhere to local performance guidelines. Regrettably, Healy did not honor these assurances, despite our trust in their commitment. Healy’s actions took us by complete surprise, and we halted the show as promptly as feasible following the incident,” organizers added in a separate statement.
“Healy’s unprofessional behavior and overt defiance of Malaysian laws and regulations are disturbing. Healy chose to utilize his performance as a platform to express his personal views, rather than delivering the quality show that his Malaysian fans were eagerly anticipating. This act is deeply unfair to his fans who were looking forward to enjoying a memorable music experience.”
On Friday, Healy apologized to fans for accepting Good Vibes’ invitation to play, saying he was unaware of Malaysia’s hardline stance toward the LGBTQ community; same-sex relationships are outlawed in the country and punishable by prison time and caning.
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Read more here and Healy’s apology:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/malaysian-music-fest-shut-down-143025024.html
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“So, what, we’re just casually accusing people of being a paedophile now for entertainment?”
By Paul Brannigan, Louder | The 1975 had their set at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur shut down on Friday (July 21) after frontman Matty Healy labeled the Malaysian government “retards” for upholding strict laws banning same-sex relationships, and called out TikTok users who engaged in an online conversation as to whether it was “appropriate” for him to be holding a close friend’s child in a certain way.
“So, what, we’re just casually accusing people of being a paedophile now for entertainment?” an understandably enraged Healy asked the Malaysian festival crowd. “Is that what we’re doing? No? Well it fucking looks like it.”
The 1975’s set was subsequently curtailed, and after Healy’s angry speech went viral, the rest of the festival was cancelled, with a statement from the organisers saying that the decision came as the result of an “immediate cancellation directive” from Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital, based upon its “unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule or contravene Malaysian laws.”
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Read the rest of this article here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/were-just-casually-accusing-people-134315511.html
Photo: Matty Healy – The 1975 (by festis on Facebook) | https://www.facebook.com/the1975/
Malaysian Music Fest Shut Down by Government After Matty Healy (The 1975) Comments
