The 1975 has been forced to pay almost £2 million in damages to a Malaysian event organizer within seven days or face legal action in the UK.
Future Sound Asia (FSA), the organizer of Kuala Lumpur's Good Vibes Festival (GVF), has revealed that it has submitted a seven-day Letter of Claim to the UK band, asking RM 12.3 million (£2,099,154.54) in damages as a result of the festival's cancellation last month.
The Letter of Claim was first announced on August 7, but no further details were available at the time.
The festival's legal counsel, David Mathew of Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership, told the Malay Mail in a fresh statement that the seven-day warning is dated August 7, giving the band until August 14 to pay the damages.
"In the letter, FSA has demanded that The 1975 admit their liability and also pay the sum of £2,099,154.54 (RM12,347,967.91) within seven (7) days," David Mathew told Malay Mail. "The Letter of Claim is written in accordance with the provisions of the English Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct and Protocol which are part of the English Civil Procedure Rules."
According to Mathew, frontman Matty Healy's violation of contract is responsible for a major portion of FSA's Letter of Claim.
"Healy’s representative categorically provided a pre-show written assurance that he and The 1975’s live performance ‘shall adhere to all local guidelines and regulations’ during their set in Malaysia," Mathews said to the Malay Mail.
"Despite this, the assurance was ignored, and the band’s actions also clearly contravened the contract with FSA, which led to the cancellation of the festival and caused significant losses to FSA."