Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil denied ordering a narrative to blame PAS for the cancellation of last weekend’s Good Vibes Festival (GVF) 2023.
Labelling the poster “slanderous”, he said a report would be lodged to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
He also took to social media to clarify the chronology of events leading to the festival’s cancellation.
He said that on June 23, the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) had rejected GVF’s organisers’ request to bring in The 1975 due to the group’s “poor record in other countries”.
He said that GVF organisers appealed Puspal’s decision on July 16 with a written guarantee from The 1975’s manager to be fully responsible for the group's performance.
Puspal accepted the appeal based on the written guarantee.
At around 11pm on July 21, on the first day of the three-day festival, the band’s frontman Matt Healy performed while holding what is believed to be a bottle of alcohol, before kissing the male guitarist.
Healy said he was unaware of Malaysia’s hardline stance toward the LGBTQ community, adding that he didn’t see the point of inviting the band to the country. damaged a camera drone operated by the festival crew.
Shortly after, the gig was halted and Healy later came back onstage to announce that the band has just been "banned from Kuala Lumpur".
Four hours after the incident, Fahmi took to Twitter to condemn Healy’s actions and called for a meeting with the organisers on July 22.
The minister then ordered an immediate cancellation of the remaining two days of the festival.
“At the end of the meeting at 1pm, I issued a statement and asked the organisers to cancel the rest of the concert and find a refund mechanism for ticket buyers.
“How can those who created this poster feel no fear for the laws or the afterlife by openly slandering like this?
“May Allah protect us from slander and those who commit it,” Fahmi said. - Mkini
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