Alexandra Wyman, Getty Images
Well, we might know the reason why M.I.A. acted out and gave cameras the middle finger during the Super Bowl halftime show. This week's most controversial artist has reportedly split from fiance Benjamin Bronfman, who is also the father of their 2-year-old son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman.
As the Daily News' Gatecrasher reports, the 36-year-old M.I.A. spends most of her time in London, away from Bronfman and their child. Her fiance is the former guitarist for punk band the Exit and the son of Edgar Bronfman, Jr., former CEO and Chairman of Warner Music Group and heir to the Seagram Company.
According to the News' source, Ikhyd, who turns 3 on Saturday, Feb. 11, is partly being raised by his paternal grandmother, philanthropist Sherry Bronfman. M.I.A., whose real name is Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, reportedly "sometimes goes six weeks without seeing" her son.
The couple, who haven't confirmed the breakup, were engaged in 2008. The British-born M.I.A. has dealt with visa issues in the U.S. but made it clear she wouldn't get married to earn a green card. "That's what they want me to do, but I'm not going to lose my integrity for that s---," she told Fader in 2010. "I actually want a nice wedding. I'm not going to blow that."
Prior to flipping the bird at the Super Bowl, M.I.A. was no stranger to controversy. In 2010, she tweeted the phone number of New York Times reporter Lynn Hirschberg, who wrote a somewhat-unflattering profile of the artist. She has also been criticized for her violent 'Born Free' video and her support of the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan militant organization infamous for its violent tactics.
M.I.A.
