Florida's senior senator has started a petition to try to cancel this week's concerts by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.
As of late Monday, a Change.org petition created by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott had 8,558 signatures.
"Kanye West’s concerts in Tampa scheduled for June 26th and 28th should NOT take place in Raymond James Stadium — a venue supported with public funds," the petition reads. "There’s no place for antisemitism in Florida, especially at the expense of the taxpayer."
The Republican labeled the hip-hop artist, now known as Ye, an “antisemite” and called for the Tampa Sports Authority to cancel his concerts at a press conference last week at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg.
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“We should never allow antisemitism anywhere, and we have to stand up against it,” Scott said.
Ye has made public antisemitic comments in recent years, including posting “I am a Nazi” on social media, selling shirts with swastikas on them, and releasing a music video titled “Heil Hitler.”
In January, Ye apologized for his statements in a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal.
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This month, Scott penned a letter to the Tampa Sports Authority, the organization that operates the county-owned stadium, urging it to cancel the Ye Live Concert Tour scheduled for Friday and Sunday.
Joe Probasco, past president of the Tampa Jewish Community Center, said it was not a First Amendment issue, but one of "timing and tone deafness of the moment we're in."
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A statement released by the sports authority stated it did not condone Ye's remarks but “we follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue.”
