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MIA has sued Kid Cudi for $2.8 million over his decision to remove her from his tour last month after controversial remarks she made about immigrants on stage, claiming she was dumped not because of her lyrics, but rather as a headliner to sell more tickets.
“This is the truth,” said the MIA complaint filed in federal court on May 29. “MIA has been terminated for generating publicity for the tour, which suffered from ticket sales. She was contractually allowed to say whatever she wanted on stage. MIA now holds Kid Cudi responsible for his bad faith destruction of her contractual rights, business opportunities and reputation.”
Cudi’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
MIA alleges in the complaint that it is owed $2.8 million in guarantees for its performance from Live Nation, a tour promoter, which is not named as a defendant. She also said she has lost out on merchandise and VIP sales, and more seriously, she and her son have received death threats since the controversy erupted.
The artist, who has sparked controversy in the past for her political statements, received significant backlash for remarks she made during her opening performance on the tour in late April, referring to the immigrant audience as “illegals.”
In the complaint, she asserts that her words were not meant to be derogatory and that she was referring to herself and her team as illegal as well, adding that she denounces ICE and said earlier on the tour that she was “cancelled for being an American who votes Republican.”
“I had my management send notice to her team before we started the tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows, because I already knew what time it was,” Cody said last month, when he announced that MIA was off the tour.
MIA claims in her complaint that Cudi’s statement was “full of lies. He knew her politics. He knew her music. He knew she wouldn’t stay silent on stage. He invited her anyway.”
