‘I cannot believe you would do this’: Fans gobsmacked after MIA posts picture with Candace Owens

The artist posted the image on Twitter alongside a caption which read ‘Here’s a scary picture for Halloween’

MIA fans have been left gobsmacked after the musician posted a photo on Twitter with right-wing political commentator Candace Owens.

Owens recently made headlines alongside the Kanye West controversies after she and West wore “White Lives Matter” t-shirts during Paris Fashion Week.

West has since made a series of of antisemitic comments during interviews and on social media. You can read the full series of events here.

On Sunday (30 October), rapper and singer MIA has posted an image of herself stood next to Owens captioned: “Here’s a scary picture for halloween. #Freespeech @RealCandaceO.”

In the comments beneath the post, fans expressed their disappointment in MIA.

“I cannot believe you would do this MIA, I am officially deleting your 3 tracks off my 2000s throwback spotify playlist I toss on for a housewarming party once every year and a half or something,” one fan sarcastically wrote, while another agreed: “Taking your music out of my playlist rn”

“It’s kinda ironic that the one who made the ‘Born Free’ music video is now posing with someone who wore a White Lives Matter shirt,” commented another fan.

“Goodbye career,” said one Twitter user while a fourth wrote: “Hope you aren’t going down the Kanye path”.

However, some fans wanted to defend the singer’s choice to post the image. “You know… You can enjoy an artist’s work and disagree with their political opinions,” one tweet read.

But others have argued with this idea, with one commenter writing: “I try to separate artists’ music from their personal beliefs, but this is pretty disappointing from MIA.”

Earlier this month, MIA sparked backlash over a series of tweets about Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist and Infowars host, and vaccines.

After relatives of Sandy Hook victims were awarded a combined $965m (£870m) in damages after the jury reached its verdict in Jones’s defamation trial, MIA tweeted: “If Alex Jones pays for lying, shouldn’t every celebrity pushing vaccines pay too?”

MIA has previously denied being against vaccination, claiming that she was instead in opposition to profiteering pharmaceutical companies.