Malaysia denies failing to secure Taylor Swift concert despite starting groundwork in 2022

Deputy youth and sports minister Adam Adli said the gig was never offered to the country under a joint contract with Sportswork and a US-based company
A lawmaker said he doubted if Swift would have come to Malaysia, given the Islamist PAS party’s penchant for opposing shows involving foreign artists

Malaysia

The Star

Published: 10:53am, 8 Mar 2024

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Claims that the government had failed to secure Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour despite having already made contact in 2022 are untrue, Malaysia’s deputy youth and sports minister Adam Adli said on Thursday.

Adam said the concert was never offered to Malaysia, adding that organising concerts were also not under the purview of his ministry.

“Recent reports on the matter are not accurate. The concert in question was never offered to the Malaysian government under a joint contract with Sportswork Group Sdn Bhd and US-based company ASM Global.

“The contract signed in early 2023 was only to support overall venue management,” he said in parliament on Thursday.

The deputy minister was responding to a supplementary question by Kampar MP Chong Zhemin who asked for the ministry’s response to claims that Malaysia failed to seize the opportunity to host A-list celebrities.

Sportswork said Swift’s show was never part of the contract it signed with ASM Global, adding the entertainment industry would have been aware of forthcoming gigs ahead of official announcements.

Envy over Singapore’s Swift deal set to accelerate neighbours’ tourism plans

Previously, it was reported that Malaysia had the chance to host Swift in 2022 but lost the chance to Singapore a year later.

Reports also said that Swift was being considered by the government after a deal was struck with a US venue management firm in 2022 to renovate Kuala Lumpur Sports City in the capital and turn it into a centre for sports and live entertainment.

The Bersatu party’s legal and constitution bureau deputy chairman Sasha Lyna Abdul Latiff later called for the government to answer for Malaysia’s failure to secure Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour in the country.

Lawmaker Chong Chieng Jen urged Malaysia to take a leaf out of Singapore’s playbook to attract international celebrities to the country and boost its tourism sector.

Citing estimates by Maybank economists, Chong said Singapore gained at least US$370 million in economic benefits from Swift’s fans from around the world who flocked to the city state to attend the six-show music extravaganza that ends on Saturday.

02:14

Singapore Taylor Swift concert draws fans from every corner of Southeast Asia

He also took a swipe at the Islamist PAS party, saying it would have vehemently opposed the US pop sensation’s performance in Malaysia.

“In Taylor Swift’s case, if Singapore had failed to obtain exclusive rights to host her, I doubt her management would have considered Malaysia as an alternative venue,” Chong said in parliament.

Last year, PAS called for Coldplay’s concert in Kuala Lumpur to be cancelled because they believed the band’s support for LGBTQ rights would promote “a culture of hedonism and perversion”.

Philippine lawmaker wants probe on Taylor Swift’s Singapore-only concert deal

Singapore’s exclusive concert deal with Swift had caused unhappiness among its Southeast Asian neighbours, but the island nation’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the move turned out to be a “very successful arrangement”.

“Our agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia,” he said at a press conference in Australia on Tuesday. “I don’t see that as being unfriendly.”

This story was first published by The Star

Additional reporting by SCMP’s Asia desk