The 1975 frontman Matty Healy spoke at length for the first time about the band’s controversial concert in Malaysia during a show in Dallas on Monday, October 9.
During The 1975’s set at Kuala Lumpur’s Good Vibes Festival in July, Healy criticized Malaysia’s harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald onstage. The 1975’s performance was cut short, and the remainder of the festival was canceled.
Healy previously addressed the incident with brief, one-off comments. During the Dallas concert, however, he gave a 10-minute speech that he read from his phone. He began telling the audience that they’d “drawn the short straw” since they’d come to the show where he’s “genuinely just stopped caring.”
“The 1975 did not waltz into Malaysia unannounced,” Healy said. “They were invited to headline a festival by a government who had full knowledge of the band, its well-publicized political views, and its routine stage show.”
“Me kissing Ross was not a stunt … to provoke the government,” he continued. “It was an ongoing part of The 1975’s stage show, which has been performed many times prior. Similarly, we chose to not change our set that night, to play pro-freedom of speech, pro-gay songs. To eliminate any routine part of the show in an effort to appease the Malaysian authorities’ bigoted views of LGBTQ people would be a passive endorsement of those politics.”
Healy then focused his attention to those who criticized his actions as performative.
“The idea of calling out a performer for being performative is mind-numbingly redundant,” he said.
Footage of Healy’s remarks were captured and posted by the @the1975_thteam fan account.
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