The clash between MIA and Kid Cudi does not stop. After being removed from the rapper's tour, where she was performing as an opening show, for “offensive comments”, MIA returns to the attack by suing her colleague for over 2.8 million dollars.
According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone USMathangi Arulpragasam (this is the real name of the artist of Tamil origin) filed a writ of summons to the District of California in which he states that Kid Cudi was aware of his political beliefs and his reputation well before the beginning of Rebel Rangers Tour.
“MIA was fired to generate publicity for the tour, which had difficulty with ticket sales,” the complaint alleges. «The contract allowed her to say whatever she wanted on stage. MIA now holds Kid Cudi responsible for the bad faith violation of its contractual rights, business opportunities and reputation.”
The lawsuit claims that the exclusion from MIA's tour constitutes an “intentional interference with contractual relations.” “Kid Cudi's behavior caused Live Nation to breach the agreement,” the complaint reads. «He ordered Live Nation to exclude MIA from the tour. It caused Live Nation not to pay the plaintiffs' $2,805,000 bond. It caused Live Nation to violate the clause in the agreement that granted the company full creative control of MIA's performances.” It is also claimed that MIA “lost sales of merchandise and VIP packages for the remainder of the tour.”
«Kid Cudi's attempts to silence freedom of artistic expression and speech on his tour cannot go unnoticed. Censorship is something MIA has fought against throughout its career,” a representative for MIA said on Sunday Rolling Stone. “For decades, MIA has used her music to speak out about human rights and other complex global issues as a refugee turned global star.”
“It is well known to both Kid Cudi and the world that MIA has never shied away from communicating her opinions through music and dialogue with fans,” the statement continues. «The shock that Kid Cudi claims to have felt at his comments, which he now defines as “offensive”, combined with the sudden and unjustified termination of his contract, are a desperate attempt to sell tickets for his tour, which was experiencing a drastic decline in sales. As a result, his false accusations fueled an indiscriminate attack, based on a deliberate misrepresentation of his words.”
In recent weeks, Kid Cudi had explained his colleague's departure as follows: «MIA is no longer part of this tour. Before the start of the tour I had asked my management to send a communication to their team to clarify that I didn't want anything offensive at my concerts, because I know how things go. I was assured that the message had been received. After the last couple of concerts I have been bombarded with messages from fans upset by his rants. It's very disappointing and I don't want people on my tour who make offensive comments that upset the fan base. Thank you for your understanding.”
