M.I.A. sues Kid Cudi after being fired during his 'Rebel Ragers' tour over political remarks
Rapper M.I.A has sued Kid Cudi for $2.8 million (around P172 million) after the latter kicked her off his Rebel Ragers tour.
According to reports by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, M.I.A slammed Cudi for his "attempts to silence freedom of artistic expression and speech.
“Kid Cudi’s attempts to silence freedom of artistic expression and speech on his ‘Rebel Rager’s Tour’ cannot go unchallenged,” read a statement from M.I.A.’s team, per Variety.
“Kid Cudi claimed shock over her comments he now labels as ‘offensive’ and his abrupt and unjustified termination of her performance agreement is a desperate attempt to sell tickets for his tour that was drastically underselling. As a result, his false allegations have fueled a misguided, hive-minded pile-on based on a deliberate misrepresentation of her words," it added.
She went on to claim that she was fired to draw attention to the tour, which she said was underselling.
“Here is the truth. M.I.A. was terminated to generate publicity for the Tour, which has struggled with ticket sales,” her May 29 complaint read. “She was contractually allowed to say whatever she wanted on stage. M.I.A. now holds Kid Cudi accountable for his bad faith destruction of her contractual rights, business opportunities, and reputation.”
In her lawsuit, M.I.A. claims she was guaranteed $2.8 million (around P172 million) through an agreement between Live Nation and her company, Neet Touring LLP. Her lawyers maintain that the payment was due “regardless of what she said on stage.” The complaint further alleges that Cudi played a role in her dismissal, saying he “directed Live Nation to fire M.I.A.” and “portrayed himself as an aggrieved headliner forced to protect his fans” after stating that she “'understood' that she could not say anything ‘offensive’ on the tour.”
M.I.A, whose real name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, was fired from the tour after her viral political statements she made on May 2 during the Dallas date at the Dos Equis Pavilion.
During her monologue, she said statements like, “I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter," which earned boos from the audience.
Cudi announced that she's no longer part of the tour via an Instagram Story on May 4.
“TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A is no longer on this tour. I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows, cuz I already knew what time it was, and I was assured things were understood. After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing, and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding. Rager," he wrote.
In her Instagram post on May 8, M.I.A shared a clip of her rant while onstage, where she can be heard saying, "Free Palestine," and "Make noise for Gaza."
"Real reason why I was taken off tour," the video text read.
M.I.A is a British-Sri Lankan rapper known for Paper Planes and Bad Girls.
Cudi's hit songs include Day 'n' Nite, Mr. Rager, and Pursuit of Happiness. The Rebel Ragers tour kicked off on April 28 with stops in 30 American cities.
