U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has written to the Tampa Sports Authority urging the board to cancel this month’s concerts by the artist formerly known as Kanye West at Raymond James Stadium.
In a letter, Scott referred to Ye’s history of antisemitic rhetoric and questioned allowing the hip-hop star to perform in a publicly funded facility.
“It is troubling that a stadium supported by taxpayer dollars would openly subsidize an event led by an artist known for pushing this dangerous, hateful rhetoric, especially with Florida having one of the largest Jewish populations in our country,” Scott wrote.
Tampa is the first and only U.S. stop on Ye’s tour since playing at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in April. Ticket demand for the original date of June 26 was strong enough that a second show was scheduled.
Since L.A., the Ye Live Concert Tour has been overseas, where it played before more than 100,000 fans last week in Istanbul. However, it has faced strong resistance in Europe, including numerous government interventions and cancellation over the rapper’s antisemitic statements and a track titled “Heil Hitler.”
The contentious backdrop appears to be following the 48-year-old rapper to Tampa.
“No taxpayer dollars should be used to give a vocal antisemite a stage in Florida, and I am sure that you will take appropriate action to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Scott wrote.
He added that the sports authority should "carefully review this decision" of staging the shows in the county-owned facility.
The authority, which operates the Raymond James Stadium, responded with a statement that offered no indication the performances were in jeopardy.
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"We recognize the concerns and viewpoints being expressed about the upcoming events at Raymond James Stadium,” the authority wrote. “As a public agency, we follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue, although we do not condone remarks or actions from any artists that are offensive and divisive."
The British government recently barred Ye from entering the country, where he was the scheduled headliner for the Wireless Festival in London. Ministries and stadium hosts in France, Switzerland, Italy and Poland also canceled performances, emphasizing that antisemitism cannot be dismissed entertainment in a region scarred by the Holocaust.
Some performances went on, including a concert with more than 100,000 fans in Istanbul. Two shows slated for a soccer stadium in the Netherlands this weekend will go on only because of the country’s laws against censorship.
Among the most cited examples of Ye's antisemitic statements was in an October 2022 tweet that said he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” which was widely condemned as echoing harmful conspiracy theories about Jewish influence and control.
He also drew intense backlash a month later during an interview with Alex Jones, in which he praised Adolf Hitler and said he “liked Hitler.” Around the same period, he shared Nazi-associated imagery and described himself as a Nazi, leading to suspensions on social media platforms and canceled partnerships and shows.
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Ye, who legally changed his name in 2021, apologized for his previous statements in January in a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal, stating that his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
Critics remained skeptical due to his history of retracting past apologies and declaring himself a Nazi.
In his letter, Scott also did not appear swayed by Ye’s contrition.
“What we spend public money on reflects our values,” the former Florida governor wrote, “and using dollars from hardworking families to platform a hateful person pushing evil ideologies is not a Florida value.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
