M.I.A. is asking Kid Cudi for $2.8 million in damages for being dropped from the tour

The clash between M.I.A. and Kid Cudi is continuing off stage as well. After being dropped from the Rebel Rangers Tour, where she was appearing as opening act, the singer has sued the rapper, seeking damages of more than $2.8 million. According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone US, Mathangi Arulpragasam claims that Kid Cudi was fully aware of her political views and public image well before the tour began. In the lawsuit filed in a California district court, the artist accuses her colleague of violating her contractual rights and undermining her professional opportunities.
"M.I.A. was fired to generate publicity for the tour, which was struggling with ticket sales," the lawsuit claims. "Her contract allowed her to say whatever she wanted on stage. M.I.A. now holds Kid Cudi responsible for the bad-faith violation of her contractual rights, her business opportunities and her reputation."
The legal action describes her removal from the tour as "intentional interference with contractual relations." The document states: "Kid Cudi's conduct induced Live Nation to breach the agreement. He ordered Live Nation to remove M.I.A. from the tour. He caused Live Nation to fail to pay the plaintiffs the $2,805,000 guarantee. He caused Live Nation to breach the clause of the agreement that guaranteed the company full creative control over M.I.A.'s performances."

The singer further claims she suffered additional financial damages due to the loss of merchandise sales and VIP packages planned for the rest of the tour.
Through a representative, M.I.A. harshly criticized the rapper's decision: "Kid Cudi's attempts to silence artistic freedom of expression and speech on his tour cannot go unnoticed. Censorship is something M.I.A. has fought against throughout her entire career. For decades, M.I.A. has used her music to speak about human rights and other complex global issues as a refugee who became a world star." And further: "It is well known to Kid Cudi, as it is to the entire world, that M.I.A. has never held back from expressing her opinions through her music and through dialogue with her fans. The shock Kid Cudi claims to have felt over her comments, which he now calls 'offensive,' combined with the sudden and unjustified termination of the contract, is a desperate attempt to sell tickets for his tour, which was seeing a drastic drop in sales. As a result, his false accusations have fueled an indiscriminate attack, based on a deliberate misrepresentation of her words."

For his part, in recent weeks Kid Cudi had publicly explained his decision to end the collaboration: "M.I.A. is no longer part of this tour. Before the tour started, I asked my management to send a message to her team making clear that I didn't want anything offensive at my shows, because I know how these things go. I was assured the message had been received. After the last couple of shows, I was flooded with messages from fans upset by her rants. It's very disappointing, and I don't want people on my tour making offensive comments that upset the fanbase. Thanks for understanding."

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