Kid Cudi Says M.I.A. Lawsuit Is D.O.A. Because of the First Amendment: ‘Fails on Its Face’

The rapper says he has a free speech right to pick and choose who is on his concert tour, meaning he could legally fire M. I. A. after her onstage political rants.

Kid Cudi says M. I. A. cannot sue him for kicking her off his Rebel Rangers Tour after she made politically-charged statements, arguing the First Amendment protects his right to choose the “content of his own concert tour.”.

The “Paper Planes” rapper (Mathangi Arulpragasam) filed a lawsuit against Cudi (Scott Mescudi) in May after he booted her from the tour — a move that came after she told fans from the stage that she had been “canceled for being a brown Republican voter.”.

But in a motion Tuesday (Sept. 8), Cudi’s attorney Mathew Rosengart says the case “fails on its face” and must be immediately dismissed because it threatens his constitutional rights.

Cudi announced in early May that M. I. A. had been removed from the tour after she was booed onstage in Dallas for lines like the “brown Republican” quip — likely a reference to criticism she received after her public endorsement of President Donald Trump in 2024.

She also called for a “free Palestine,” condemned ICE, and referenced her song “Illegal” before saying that “some of you could be in the audience.”.

In a May 29 lawsuit, M. I. A. claimed that firing was illegal. Her attorneys argued that her contract with Live Nation explicitly authorized her to speak her mind — and that Cudi had merely used her statements as a pretext to boot her.

But in Tuesday’s filing, Cudi’s attorneys say the case should be tossed out under California’s so-called anti-SLAPP law, a state statute designed to quickly end lawsuits that threaten free speech.

The tour was a form of artistic expression, his lawyers say, and he was legally entitled to decide what the shows would look like.

Notably, Cudi’s attorneys cited a 2019 ruling in favor of rocker Eddie Money over his decision to fire drummer Glenn Symmonds from a concert tour. That court said Money was shielded from a discrimination lawsuit by the anti-SLAPP statute because it was “in furtherance of the exercise of his constitutional right of free speech.”.

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