British pop rock group The 1975 have cancelled two gigs in Asia as the fallout from their controversial performance at a major Malaysian music festival continues.
The English pop-rock group announced that performances at the We The Fest in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday and at the Taipei Music Centre in Taiwan on Tuesday will not go ahead.
A statement from the band was posted on the We The Fest Instagram page on Sunday, saying: "The 1975 regret to announce that their forthcoming shows in Jakarta and Taipei will no longer be going ahead as planned.
"The band never take the decision to cancel a show lightly and had been eagerly looking forward to playing for fans in Jakarta and Taipei but unfortunately due to the current circumstances, it is impossible to proceed with the current shows.
"Thank you for your understand and continued support."
The cancellations come after Kuala Lumpur's Good Vibes Festival was cancelled when Matt Healy, the frontman of The 1975, kissed a male bandmate onstage and criticised the country's anti-LGBT+ laws.
Homosexuality is a crime in Malaysia and members of the LGBT+ community face severe discrimination and punishment.
The band's performance was cut short and the Malaysian government banned The 1975 from ever performing in the country again.
Festival organisers said on Saturday the remainder of the three-day event had been cancelled following the "controversial conduct and remarks" made by Healy.
Their statement finished with, "We sincerely apologise to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors and partners."
In footage on social media, Healy said on-stage that he had considered pulling out of the show as he did not "see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with."
However, he said he chose to appear at the festival because he did not want to disappoint fans.
Healy also said: "Unfortunately you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f****** furious and that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government because you are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool."
In the aftermath of the incident, Malaysian communications minister Fahmi Fadzil tweeted: "I have called the organisers of Good Vibes Festival 2023... following the very rude actions and statements displayed by UK artist 'The 1975' in Sepang last night."
"There will be no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws," Mr Fadzil added.
A Malaysian government committee that oversees performances by foreigners said The 1975 would never again be permitted to perform in the Muslim-majority country.
Source: Press Association
