Kanye West Books Tampa Show, Offers Free Tickets to Mailing List Fans

Kanye West is gearing up to perform in Tampa for the first time in nearly a decade.

The artist now known as Ye will be performing at Raymond James Stadium on June 26. Though details about the performance are being kept under wraps, it appears that pre-registrants for the ticket sale will be selected to receive free tickets, according to a message on tour.yeezy.com.

The concert will be West’s first appearance in the Tampa area since September 2016, when his Saint Pablo Tour stopped at what was then called Amalie Arena.

The show comes after a turbulent stretch for Ye, whose past antisemitic statements and posts featuring Nazi imagery have come back to bite him — even after issuing a public apology.

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In recent months, Ye has had performances across Europe canceled, and he’s faced travel restrictions in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

One of his most recent cancellations was in New Delhi, where he was supposed to perform at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. On May 15, the Indian government raised concerns about potential terrorism threats in and around Delhi. They didn’t confirm whether the threats had to do with Ye performing or not.

One show that Ye still has to look forward to is his upcoming stop in Tirana, Albania, on July 11. In April, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed the show was happening despite growing criticism tied to the rapper’s past remarks.

According to Albanian officials, the concert won’t rely on public funding and will instead be financed through ticket sales.

Critics within Albania voiced concern about the upcoming show, with Isa Myzraj, head of the Association of Journalists of Albania, saying: “It is incomprehensible why the Prime Minister decides to provoke [people] by promoting Kanye West.”

Ye’s recent apology for his actions has come under fire from many, including Seth Rogen, who called him out for making a song called “Heil Hitler.”

“What’s funny is I’ve said critical things about Jewish people; I think I got in more trouble than Kanye West did,” Rogen said to the audience at a recent Netflix Is A Joke event. “I got a lot of s**t for what I said. I have no number one albums. I sometimes think what Adolf Hitler would think of the Kanye West song ‘Heil Hitler.’ I bet he’d be torn.”

Jon Stewart later took to the stage and echoed Rogern’s sentiment. “But seriously, f**k that guy,” Stewart said. “He was like, ‘Hitler was misunderstood, we’ve got to forgive Hitler.’ And I’m like, I don’t think I need to listen to anybody who thinks Hitler needs to be forgiven but is still mad at Pete Davidson.”

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