Paper Planes hitmaker M.I.A. fired from Kid Cudi tour after 'offensive' pro-Republican rant

Controversial rapper M.I.A. has been fired from Kid Cudi's Rebel Ragers Tour following a politically-charged monologue on stage.

The British-born Sri Lankan star, 50, received her marching orders after ranting about illegal immigrants and being a Republican at a tour stop in Dallas, according to Variety.

'I've been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter,' she told the audience, before being met with a chorus of boos.

She then allegedly said that she couldn't perform her 2010 song 'Illygirl', which is about the spirit of migrants and immigrants, because 'some of you could be in the audience'. 

Shortly after a clip of the performance went viral on social media, Cudi issued a statement confirming that M.I.A. – real name Mathangi Arulpragasam – had been dropped from the rest of the tour.

'TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A. is no longer on this tour,' he wrote on Instagram.

'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,' 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 upset my fanbase. Thank you for understanding.'

M.I.A. was one of the opening acts for the 33-date tour, along with Big Boi, who is still on the schedule.

The Paper Planes hitmaker was known for her progressive politics when she first burst onto the music scene in 2005 with her critically-acclaimed debut Arular.

However, the singer has made a hard pivot to the right in recent years.

In addition to converting to Christianity, M.I.A. also criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, aligned herself with conservative firebrand Candace Owens, and endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential election.

'Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging four years, coming, pulling out weed (sic),' she wrote in 2024.

She also said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'will inherit America when God is ready to replant and rebuild it righteously.'

In an interview last year, the born-again Christian accused her critics of 'jealousy'.

'Every single person who’s ever criticised me or thrown mud at my name, they’re doing it out of jealousy or some other thing that’s making them do that,' she told The Age.

She also shot down claims that she's a right winger, despite vocally supporting Trump.

'I’ve been around long enough to see what the left was 20 and 30 years ago and what the left is now, and I’ve seen the left get hijacked,' she explained. 

'While real voices are being muted, unnecessary causes have taken up that space and the left lets that happen,' she continued.

'Everything to me is cause and effect, and you have to appreciate free-thinkers on all sides. Everyone’s got the same battle at this point, and it’s not the time to point fingers and drag each other over little things.'

M.I.A. is best known for her hits Bad Girls and Paper Planes, the latter of which has over one billion streams on Spotify.

She has been nominated for an Academy Award and three Grammy Awards.

In 2019, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her contributions to music.