Kid Cudi photo by Chris Allmeid/Courtesy of Rolling Loud. M.I.A. performing at the House of Creatives in Miami. New Times photo.
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Just days after kicking off The Rebel Ragers Tour, Kid Cudi has dropped his opener, British-Sri Lankan singer M.I.A., after a string of politically charged onstage remarks drew backlash from fans. The run is scheduled to make a Sout florida stop this weekend at the iTHINK Financial Amphitheater with A-Trak, and Big Boi. The controversy reached a breaking point during the tour’s Dallas stop on May 2, where M.I.A. was booed after telling the crowd, “I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter.” She also made a pointed immigration related remark, saying she couldn’t perform “Illegal” because “some of you could be in the audience.”
The comments landed especially poorly in Dallas, where immigration enforcement has been a heightened local issue. Recent reporting from KERA found that people without criminal convictions have topped ICE arrest data in Dallas for six straight months, while the Dallas Morning News reported that removals following arrests by ICE’s Dallas office have accelerated in 2026.
Cudi addressed the situation in a statement posted to Instagram Stories on Monday, confirming that M.I.A. was no longer part of the tour.
“M.I.A is no longer on this tour. I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started the 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. 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
For M.I.A., the fallout is the latest in a long stretch of controversy surrounding her political views and conspiracy theory- adjacent commentary. In 2022, she compared Alex Jones’ lies about the Sandy Hook mass shooting to celebrities promoting COVID vaccines. In 2024, she appeared on Jones’ Infowars to promote Ohmni, an apparel line marketed as protection from Wi-Fi, 4G and 5G signals.
The timing makes the split even more awkward. M.I.A. had just received a nostalgic boost at Coachella 2026, where she joined Major Lazer as a surprise guest and reunited with Diplo onstage for “Paper Planes.”
For Cudi, the decision appears to be less about political disagreement and more about protecting the atmosphere of his own tour. For M.I.A., it marks another chapter in a career increasingly defined by the tension between her legacy as a boundary-pushing immigrant pop provocateur and her more recent turn toward right-wing politics and conspiracy culture.
Kid Cudi. 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach, FL. livenation.com. Tickets via Live Nation.
