FLORIDA – Florida’s senior senator has started a petition to try to cancel Kanye West’s concerts in Tampa.
As of Monday morning, a Change.org petition created by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-FL, had 8,401 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.”
Scott, who has previously labeled the hip-hop artist an “antisemite,” called for the Tampa Sports Authority to cancel his concerts at a press conference last week.
“We should never allow antisemitism anywhere, and we have to stand up against it,” Scott said.
West 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, West apologized for his antisemitic statements in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this month, Scott penned a letter to the Tampa Sports Authority, the organization that owns the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa where West is supposed to perform June 26 and 28, urging them to cancel the concert.
“West’s remarks are vile and a slap in the face to our state’s Jewish community. 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,” the letter reads.
A statement released by the sports authority stated they “do not condone” West’s remarks but “we follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue.”
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