Kid Cudi has fired M.I.A. as an opening act on his Rebel Ragers tour following backlash over her onstage comments in Dallas, where she said she \u201ccan\u2019t do illegal\u201d and appeared to accuse audience members of being in the country illegally.<\/p>\n
The controversy first gained steam<\/a> on Reddit<\/a> where concertgoers expressed their concerns about her comments at Saturday\u2019s show, including that she reportedly claimed she was canceled for being a brown Republican voter, prompting boos from the audience. Although she is not a U.S. citizen, she endorsed Donald Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n In one video<\/a>, she says she \u201ccan\u2019t do illegal, though some of you could be in the audience,\u201d drawing audible gasps. <\/p>\n In a statement Monday, Kid Cudi announced that M.I.A. was no longer with the tour and noted that he had previously had his management tell her team that he \u201cdidn\u2019t want anything offensive\u201d in his shows and that he was assured this message was understood.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the last couple shows, I\u2019ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants,\u201d he wrote in a statement on Instagram. \u201cThis, to me, is very disappointing and I won\u2019t have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase.\u201d<\/p>\n The rant came as she introduced her song \u201cILLYGIRL,\u201d which has lyrics that say \u201cI\u2019m illegal, f\u2014 your law.\u201d In another video<\/a>, she can be heard saying, \u201cI\u2019m illegal, half my team are not here because they didn\u2019t get the visa,\u201d before instructing the audience not to listen to \u201cwhat the bots say on the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n After Cudi\u2019s announcement about her being removed from the tour, she responded in an all-caps message on X<\/a>, writing, \u201cI WROTE BORDERS AND ILLYGAL AND PAPER PLANES BEFORE YOU THOUGHT IMMIGRANT RIGHTS WERE COOL. I\u2019VE HAD [THESE] BATTLES BY MYSELF WITHOUT THE HELP OF MILLIONS OF FANS BACKING ME.\u201d<\/p>\n M.I.A., whose real name is Mathangi \u201cMaya\u201d Arulpragasam, is a British-born rapper with Sri Lankan parents. She spent her early childhood in Sri Lanka before her family returned to London as refugees during the country\u2019s civil war. <\/p>\n She is best known for her 2008 smash hit \u201cPaper Planes,\u201d which includes the lyrics \u201cIf you catch me at the border I got visas in my name.\u201d Several of her songs deal with themes of immigration, politics and war.<\/p>\n