Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has been cancelled with immediate effect, according to Malaysia's communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil.
In an Instagram post from Jul. 22, Fahmi said he has met the festival's organisers and stressed that the government's stance is clear.
"There is no compromise for any parties who dare to challenge, belittle and go against the Malaysian laws."
This comes after The 1975's singer Matt Healy called the country's government a "bunch of f**king r*tards" and kissed his bandmate on stage on the first night of the festival.
The three-day event welcomed the UK band on its first night (Jul. 21), along with other international singers such as Daniel Caesar and Sabrina Carpenter.
Close to midnight, during the band's performance, Healy spoke out about the Malaysian government's anti-LGBT policies.
Gave a heated speech
About 20 minutes into his set, Healy "went on a bit of a drunken rant" a festival-goer told Mothership.
A video on Twitter revealed that he started his speech by saying: "I feel bad for you guys. I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I was not looking into... I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."
"I'm sorry if that offends you and you're religious [...] and it's part of your f**king government. But your government are a bunch of f**king retards."
Another video on TikTok caught the rest of his speech where Healy continued:
"I don't care anymore. If you're going to push, I'm going to push back."
Screengrab from ohyeahuilii/TikTok.
"Unfortunately, you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I'm f**king furious," Healy said to the crowd.
He added that he almost pulled out from the show, but said it wasn't fair to the fans as they are "not representative of your government because you are young people and I'm sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool".
Healy also shared his view that it is "ridiculous" how a country tells people what to do with "that and that". He also expressed disinterest in returning back to Malaysia to perform.
It is, however, unclear how the TikTok video is related to his disagreement with the country's LGBT policies.
Kissed his bandmate
Photo from Victoria Neo.
As they were about to perform their next song "I Like America & America Likes Me", Healy proceeded to kiss his bandmate Ross MacDonald on stage.
Soon after, the screens were shut off, but the band continued to perform.
Stage with the screens switched off. Image via aiklooon/IG.
"Okay we got to go, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur," Healy claimed as he walked off, soon after the screens were switched off.
Organisers to refund festival-goers
In his Instagram post, Fahmi said that he has asked the organisers to come up with a refund mechanism for ticket buyers.
Malaysia's Ministry of Communications and Digital also released a statement condemning The 1975's act.
The statement said: "The act is insulting, belittles the country's laws and has gone against Malaysians' decorum."
Good Vibes Fest has also issued an official statement apologising to ticket holders, vendors, sponsors and partners.
The 1975 blacklisted in Malaysia
A police report has been made against The 1975 for failure to abide by the conditions set by the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (PUSPAL).
PUSPAL has also decided to blacklist The 1975 to perform in Malaysia.
Top images via Victoria Neo.