M.I.A. is suing Kid Cudi for $2.8 million over his decision to axe her from his tour last month following controversial statements she made about immigrants on stage, alleging that she was let go not because of her words, but rather to drum up headlines to sell more tickets.
“Here is the truth,” M.I.A.’s complaint, filed in federal court on May 29 reads. “M.I.A. was terminated to generate publicity for the tour, which has struggled with ticket sales. 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.”
Reps for Cudi didn’t respond to request for comment on the lawsuit.
M.I.A. alleges in the complaint that she’s owed $2.8 million in guarantees for her performances from tour promoter Live Nation, which is not named as a defendant. She also said she’d lost out on merchandise and VIP sales and, more seriously, that she and her son have received death threats since the controversy ignited.
The performer, who’s courted controversy in the past for her political statements, had garnered significant backlash for statements she made during her opening performance on the tour in late April, referring to immigrants the audience as “illegal.”
In the complaint, she maintained that her words weren’t intended to be pejorative and that she was referring to herself and her team as illegal as well, adding that she deplores ICE and has previously said on the tour that she was “canceled for being a Republican voting American.”
Kudi said last month, when he announced M.I.A. was off the 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.”
In her complaint M.I.A. claims that Cudi’s statement was, “riddled with falsehoods. He knew her politics. He knew her music. He knew she would not stay silent on stage. He invited her anyways.”
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