British rapper M.I.A. is suing Kid Cudi for US$2.8 million after she was fired as one of the openers for his Rebel Ragers Tour following her “offensive remarks” and “rants” onstage.
Kid Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, announced last month that “M.I.A is no longer on this tour” because he didn’t want “anything offensive at my shows.”
In a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, obtained and viewed by Global News, M.I.A. said that Kid Cudi has “portrayed himself as an aggrieved headliner forced to protect his fans from an out-of-control support act.”
“Here is the truth. M.I.A. was terminated to generate publicity for the Tour, which has struggled with ticket sales,” according to the civil complaint filed by her lawyer Howard King.
“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,” the complaint said.
The $2.8 million figure comes from a “guarantee” between the Rebel Ragers Tour promoter, Live Nation and M.I.A. and her company, Neet Touring LLP, according to Variety.
M.I.A.’s lawyers claim that Live Nation agreed to pay her that amount “regardless of what she said on stage.”
The lawsuit says that Kid Cudi “directed Live Nation to fire M.I.A.”
“During her performances on the Tour, M.I.A. made comments that were consistent with her public persona and prior performances,” her lawyer said. “Before M.I.A. agreed to join the Tour, Kid Cudi was aware of M.I.A.’s politically vocal reputation and her stances on immigration and genocide.”
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“Kid Cudi’s motivations are purely commercial. He has already been forced to cancel a Tour date due to low ticket sales. He has ridiculed and attempted to ‘cancel’ M.I.A. to market the Tour and sell tickets,” the legal documents add.
In a statement to Global News, M.I.A.’s lawyer King said, “KiD CuDi’s attempts to silence freedom of artistic expression and speech on his ‘Rebel Rager’s Tour’ cannot go unchallenged. Censorship is something M.I.A has fought against her whole career.”
“For decades, M.I.A. has used her platform to speak on human rights and other complex global issues as a refugee who became a global star,” King continued. “It is well known to KiD CuDi and the world that she has never been shy about communicating her heartfelt views through her music and her dialogue with fans.”
“KiD CuDi’s 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,” King added.
Global News has reached out to Kid Cudi’s representative for further comment, but has not received a response.
The lawsuit also states that M.I.A. lost merchandise sales and VIP package sales from the remainder of the tour after she was fired.
The Paper Planes rapper is also asking for US$75,000 in compensatory damages, punitive and special damages and coverage of her costs and lawyer fees. She also requests “a trial by jury on all issues so triable.”
Kid Cudi’s decision to fire M.I.A. came after a viral rant she made on May 2 during a Dallas date of the tour at the Dos Equis Pavilion, where she was booed by the crowd during a monologue about her political views.
“I’ve been cancelled for many reasons. I never thought I would be cancelled for being a brown Republican voter,” M.I.A. reportedly said during the concert, according to Variety.
She also told the audience she would not perform her song Illygirl before saying that some “of you could be in the audience.”
“All right, I’m illegal,” M.I.A. said in another video shared online. “Half of my team are not here because they didn’t get the visa, OK? I want you to know that. All right, so don’t listen to what the bots say on the internet.”
“We should be above politics,” she added, according to the video.
After videos of M.I.A.’s set spread online, Kid Cudi announced her departure from the tour on May 4 in an Instagram post.
“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,” he wrote.
“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 [sic] have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding,” his post concluded.
“DO NOT GASLIGHT MY WORDS. THAT IS THE WORK OF SATAN. I WROTE BORDERS AND ILLYGAL [sic] AND PAPER PLANES BEFORE YOU THOUGHT IMMIGRANT RIGHTS WERE COOL. I’VE HAD THSES [sic] BATTLES BY MYSELF WITHOUT THE HELP OF MILLIONS OF FANS BACKING ME,” she continued. “I DON’T NEED THIS VIRTUE SIGNAL ERA TO ALL OF A SUDDEN ERASE AN ENTIRE LIFE I’VE LED. JESUS WAS AN IMMIGRANT AND A REBEL.”
M.I.A. added that she has “no apology for the judgmental, the wicked and the ignorant.”
The Rebel Ragers Tour kicked off on April 28, with two Canadian dates including Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre on May 26 and Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on June 19.
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