The 1975 Manager Sues Malaysian Promoters For Incident In 2023

JAKARTA - The 1975 became the talk of the world after appearing at the Good Vibes Festival in Sepang, Malaysia in July 2023. The reason is, badminton (vocals) criticized the anti-LGBTQ policy in Malaysia, even kissing Ross Macdonald (bass) on stage.

The incident sparked the anger of local authorities, who then forced the concert to stop and cancel the rest of the festival. Even the Malaysian government banned The 1975 from appearing there for the next time.

Not only that, The 1975, which is scheduled to appear at the We The Fest event in Jakarta, must also be canceled.

In response to the incident, Jamie Oborne as manager and label boss Dirty Hit said what happened at that time was very tense for the management.

"It was a very tense time," Oborn said as a guest on The Money Trench's recent podcast.

The manager also revealed that he was suing the promoter who invited The 1975 to appear in Malaysia. The reason is, the High Court in Malaysia in February stated that The 1975 personnel should not be considered personally responsible for kissing on stage which caused the festival to close.

"I'm actually suing Malaysia's promoter in Malaysia now, but the press is only reporting its obscene side, not what was later discovered by the High Court judge, that Malaysia's promoter had actually violated the contract, and that's why we have a contract," he said.

Asked further about the possibility of The 1975 returning to Malaysia one day, Oborne said, "I don't think the band will ever return to Malaysia."

He added, "There are so many human rights violations in Malaysia, so I don't think there is any amount of money that you can pay to your partner so he wants to go there."