Dozens of artists have signed onto a statement in support of pro-Palestine artist Kehlani following the cancellation of her performance in New York City scheduled for June 26 by the publicly-funded nonprofit organization behind the “SummerStage” concert series. The concert titled “Pride with Kehlani” was cancelled following pressure from the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which threatened to revoke the license from the nonprofit organization which runs the concert series.
🚨 BREAKING: Artists, bands, and intellectuals including Residente, Rapsody, Boots Riley, Mo Amer, Kneecap, MUNA, Amanda Seales, Indya Moore, and many many more have signed an open letter via Artists Against Apartheid denouncing the cancellation of Kehlani’s Pride concert at… pic.twitter.com/slUmANvl7I
— Artists Against Apartheid (@artistsagainst_) May 10, 2025
“This cancellation is part of a troubling pattern throughout the country to silence artists, academics, students, attorneys, and others who have dared to speak out and demand an end to the war and siege of Gaza,” read the statement publicized by Artists Against Apartheid, an international network of artists in solidarity with Palestine. Dozens of artists, celebrities, and cultural workers have signed onto the statement including rapper and filmmaker Boots Riley, Irish rappers Kneecap, Puerto Rican singer Residente, progressive streamer Hasan Piker, scholars Geo Maher and Charisse Burden-Stelly, singer Carsie Blanton, actor Sara Ramirez, filmmaker Alana Hadid, singer Lauren Jauregui, and comedian and musician Reggie Watts.
“We, the undersigned artists, cultural workers, and academics denounce this move by SummerStage and all festivals and institutions who attempt to silence the voices that bravely demand an end to this brutal genocide,” the statement read.
We reaffirm our commitment to using our stages and platforms to call for a free Palestine.
Artist manager and member of the Artists Against Apartheid network Veronica Bettio told Peoples Dispatch that she signed on because,
together we are stronger in combating this attempt at censorship.
“We refuse to let fear tactics and intimidation stop us from speaking out against this brutal live-streamed genocide of the Palestinian people,” Bettio said.
As artists and cultural workers we need to get organized and stand strongly together, committed to speaking out and demanding an end to the genocide.
SummerStage cancels concert following pressure from NYC mayor
Eric Adams’ First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro penned a letter on May 5 to the City Park’s Foundation, which runs the SummerStage series, threatening to revoke the foundation’s license for every concert it runs unless it “promptly take steps” to address “security concerns” raised by Kehlani’s performance.
“We write to advise you that we have security concerns about this event, given the controversy surrounding Kehlani’s scheduled performance at Cornell University (causing University officials to cancel the appearance), the security precautions needed for an event like this in Central Park, and the security demands throughout the City for other Pride events during this same period of time,” Mastro wrote to the City Park’s Foundation.
The Foundation capitulated the same day. SummerStage published a statement, writing that “we strongly and emphatically believe in artistic expression of all kinds. However, the safety and security of our guests and artists is of the utmost importance and in light of these concerns, the concert has been cancelled.”
Kehlani responded to the cancellation via a post on their Instagram story, writing:
i’m so deeply grounded in my purpose my mission my art my contribution.
Cornell University cancels Kehlani show
As referenced both by the Adams administration and SummerStage, Kehlani’s planned May 7 show at Cornell University, originally set for “Slope Day” which marks the beginning of final exams, was canceled by university officials. “Although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day,” said Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff in an April 23 statement, announcing his decision to cancel Kehlani’s performance.
Kotlikoff claimed explicitly that Kehlani has “espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media.”
“While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it,” Kotlikoff wrote.
Kehlani responded to Cornell’s decision to cancel her performance: “I am being asked and called to clarify and make a statement yet again for the millionth time that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew,” the artist stated.
I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I’m anti the bombing of innocent children, men [and] women… that’s what I’m anti.
Cornell University has sparked outrage among the Palestine solidarity movement in the past through actions it has taken—including suspending pro-Palestine student activist Momodou Taal last year following his participation in a protest on campus. As a result of this retaliatory action, Taal faced deportation which he narrowly avoided last year, but recently chose to leave the U.S. following further threats by the Trump administration.
“Cornell logic: Ann Coulter or Ben Shapiro’s even the KKK aren’t divisive but Kehlani is, have I got that right?,” Taal wrote in a post on X in response to Cornell’s cancellation of Kehlani’s show and the statement by Cornell’s former Vice President of University Relations Joel Malina saying that the university was open to the possibility of inviting a member of the Ku Klux Klan to speak on campus. “If there were a faculty member that invited a KKK representative to speak or a student group that invited a KKK representative to speak, yes, we would allow that,” Malina stated in a private zoom meeting last year. Black students at Cornell denounced Malina’s statement at the time.