Kid Cudi removes M.I.A. from Rebel Ragers Tour after fan complaints over “offensive remarks”

Kid Cudi has confirmed that M.I.A. is no longer opening on his ongoing Rebel Ragers Tour, following backlash from fans over comments made during the first stretch of dates.

In a statement posted on Instagram on May 4, Cudi said he made the call after being “flooded with messages from fans” who were upset by what he described as “offensive remarks” during the last two shows.

The tour launched on April 28 in Phoenix. At the Dallas stop at Don Equis Pavilion on May 2, M.I.A. was booed after telling the crowd, “I can’t do ‘Illegal’, though some of you could be in the audience,” and, “I’ve been cancelled for many reasons, I never thought I would be cancelled for being a brown Republican voter.”

Cudi wrote: “TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A is no longer on this 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, and I was assured things were understood.”

He continued: “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. Rager.”

Videos from the Dallas show circulated online shortly after.

M.I.A. later responded, urging people not to “gas light my words,” adding that she viewed the reaction as “the work of Satan.”

She wrote: “I wrote ‘Borders’ and ‘Illegal’ and ‘Paper Planes’ before you thought immigrant rights were cool. I’ve had these battles by myself without the help of millions of fans backing me. I don’t need this virtue signal era to all of a sudden erase an entire life I’ve led.”

She followed that by saying: “Jesus was an immigrant and a rebel. I have no apology for the judgemental. The wicked and the ignorant.”

In another post, she referenced her 2010 track Illegal from Maya, writing that she still stands by the lyric “fu&% the law” in cases where laws are unjust.

After one X user brought up her support for Donald Trump, M.I.A. replied that she cannot vote in the US and argued against “division,” citing support for Trump among parts of the Latino electorate.

Ahead of the 2024 US election, M.I.A. publicly backed Trump, saying he would “ride America through the most challenging four years,” and added that RFK would eventually “inherit America.”

Her political commentary has drawn criticism before, including remarks comparing Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook falsehoods to public messaging around COVID-19 vaccines. She later said she was “not really” anti-vaccine.

The artist released her latest album, M.I.7, last month and announced a new clothing line at the same time, marketed as blocking 10G.