Kid Cudi has dropped M.I.A. as the opener for his ongoing tour, the hip-hop act announced on Monday, days after the singer had made viral controversial comments about conservatism and illegal immigration during her performance over the weekend.
M.I.A. picked up flack after comments she made during a tour stop at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, where according to fans in attendance who posted about it on Reddit, she spoke about how “I never thought i would be cancelled for being a brown republican voter.” According to a fan-captured video, she also talked about how she “can’t do ‘illegal,’” referring to her song, then saying “though some of you could be in the audience.”
“M.I.A is no longer on this tour,” Cudi wrote in an Instagram story on Monday.
“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,” Cudi further wrote “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.”
M.I.A.’s comments mark the latest controversy in her already-controversial career. Back in the pandemic, she had espoused anti-vaccine rhetoric during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, saying she’d “choose” death over a vaccine. She also endorsed Donald Trump for president back in 2024, writing on X that “Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging 4 years.”
She acknowledged the controversy on X on Monday, disputing the context of her statements, telling the public not to “gaslight my words” and suggesting her words weren’t to disparage undocumented immigrants.
“I WROTE ILLYGAL ON THE MAYA LP A SONG FROM 2010,” she wrote in an all-caps post. “I STARTED THIS INTRO TO THE SONG WITH THE STATEMENT SAYING I’M ILLYGAL, AND I SAID MY TEAM HASN’T GOTTEN VISAS YET. THEN PLAYED A SONG THAT HAD LYRICS SAYING “FU&% THE LAW”, WHICH I STILL BELIEVE, IF THE LAW IS UNJUST F@%& IT.”
When another X user pointed toward the Trump endorsement, she wrote that “I CAN’T VOTE IN THE US, AND 48% OF LATIN COMMUNITY VOTED TRUMP. SO ARE YOU GOING TO HATE THEM ALL?”
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