Kanye West Ye Tampa Concerts to Go on Despite Petition, Protest
After the failure of a petition launched by Sen. Rick Scott to bar resurgent rap superstar Kanye “Ye” West from performing on Friday and Sunday at a publicly funded Tampa arena over the rapper’s past antisemitic statements and songs, two protest vehicles will circle the venue as fans of the controversial rapper file into his show. On June 3, Scott launched a Change.org petition demanding that the Tampa Sports Authority cancel West’s late June concerts at the city’s Raymond James Stadium. Scott cited West’s controversial antisemitic remarks and other actions in the letter he wrote to the stadium’s governing body. He wrote that Florida’s politicians should do everything in their power to ensure that public money and resources not be used for West’s performance. “Kanye West is an admitted and prolific antisemite who has slandered Jews, praised Adolf Hitler, called himself a Nazi and sold swastika merchandise on his website — among his numerous other antisemitic remarks and actions. Florida — and especially the Tampa Bay area — has a large Jewish population,” Scott said. …
