The Tampa Sports Authority is facing calls to cancel two upcoming Kanye West concerts at Raymond James Stadium after Sen. Rick Scott held a press conference June 15 urging the organization to reject the performances over concerns about antisemitic remarks associated with the artist.
“This is so simple. We should never allow antisemitism anywhere, and we have to stand up against it,” Scott said. “This is bigger than politics.”
Scott argued that public venues and taxpayer resources should not support events involving someone accused of promoting antisemitic views.
“If you have a public venue, you don't have to say, ‘I got to let everybody there.’ You do not,” Scott said. “There is no law that says that. You don't have to let people who hate Jews show up.”
Scott said allowing the concerts to continue could make members of the Jewish community feel like “second class citizens” and said Florida has a responsibility to reject hate.
On June 4, Scott sent a letter to the Tampa Sports Authority Board of Directors calling for the concerts to be canceled.
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist also spoke at the press conference, saying the issue is not political but a matter of right and wrong.
“We need to stand up for what is right and what is fundamentally true and what was evil and wrong,” Crist said.
The Tampa Sports Authority responded in a statement saying taxpayer money is not being used for the concerts and that the organization will not cancel the performances based on free speech protections.
“We condemn antisemitism from any source. However, we also respect free speech rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, even when we disagree with that speech. In addition, no taxpayer money is being used for staging the Ye concerts. To suggest otherwise is false,” the statement said.
The concerts are scheduled to take place June 26 and 28 at Raymond James Stadium.