MIA sues Kid Cudi for $2.8 million after being removed from his tour
MIA has filed a lawsuit against Kid Cudi after he kicked her off his tour.
The British artist, best known for her song ‘Paper Planes’, was a support act on Cudi’s Rebel Ragers Tour until she was axed last month.
The 50-year-old was removed over “offensive remarks” following comments made on stage in Dallas, Texas. MIA called herself a Republican and stated, “Can’t do ‘Illygal’, though some of you could be in the audience.”
On May 29th, MIA filed a complaint in the United States Court District of California Western Division, claiming Cudi knew her political beliefs and reputation before adding her to his tour.
“MIA was terminated to generate publicity for the Tour, which has struggled with ticket sales,” the complaint reads. “She was contractually allowed to say whatever she wanted on stage. MIA now holds Kid Cudi accountable for his bad faith destruction of her contractual rights, business opportunities, and reputation.”
She’s seeking $2.8 million from the purported guarantee and over $75,000 in compensatory damages.
A representative told Rolling Stone, “Kid Cudi’s attempts to silence freedom of artistic expression and speech on his Rebel Ragers Tour cannot go unchallenged. Censorship is something MIA has fought against her whole career. For decades, MIA. has used her platform to speak on human rights and other complex global issues as a refugee who became a global star.”
MIA claimed Cudi’s statement was “riddled with falsehoods” and that giving her the boot was “intentional interference with contractual relations.”
His initial statement read, “MIA 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.”
He continued, “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 won’t have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding.”