Did you know M.I.A. has a new album out today? It’s true. But MATA and its somewhat tempestuous rollout have been completely overshadowed by M.I.A.’s way more tempestuous social media takes. Wednesday, after a jury ordered conspiracy theory huckster Alex Jones to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, M.I.A. equated Jones to Pfizer and wondered on Twitter, “If Alex jones pays for lying shouldn’t every celebrity pushing vaccines pay too ?”

This isn’t the first time M.I.A. has expressed vaccine skepticism. Near the beginning of the pandemic, she tweeted, “If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I’m gonna choose death,” and elaborated the following month that she is “not against vaccines” but “against companies who care more for profit then [sic] humans. I don’t want it coming from banks / tech /hedge fund sector and I want a choice.” However, given the especially inflammatory nature of these latest tweets, there have been some inevitable ripple effects. In another tweet, M.I.A. shared a message from a representative of GQ canceling a photo shoot and M.I.A.’s involvement in an upcoming awards show — presumably next month’s GQ UK Men Of The Year Awards. (Her commentary seems to confirm that: “You print words for living . How do you judge man of the year when you don’t have balls ?”)

In a new interview in The Guardian, M.I.A. further explains her stance on vaccines. “The language they use to attack anybody is to say: ‘Oh, she’s an anti-vaxxer’ or blah blah blah. And it’s like, no, not really. I know three people who have died from taking the vaccine and I know three people who have died from Covid. This is in my life, in my experience. If anyone is going to deny that experience and gaslight me, saying: ‘No, that’s not your experience,’ then what is the point of anything?” (The story then links to a March 2022 study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found no connection between taking two doses of a COVID vaccine and dying.)

In the interview, M.I.A. speaks out against identity politics and cancel culture. And she has apparently converted to Christianity? A lot going on with M.I.A. these days. Just not the GQ UK Men Of The Year Awards.