New York City event organizers have cancelled a Pride month concert by R&B artist Kehlani after pressure from Mayor Eric Adams’s office against the outspoken pro-Palestine artist.
The concert, billed as “Pride with Kehlani,” was slated to take place on June 26 in Central Park. It was organized by nonprofit SummerStage, which puts on free concerts across New York.
The group cited supposed “safety” concerns, which they said were brought to them by the mayor’s office, as well as “controversy surrounding Cornell University’s” recent cancellation of a performance by the singer over their pro-Palestine views.
The New York performance cancellation has also seemingly come as a direct result of Kehlani’s vocal support of Palestinian rights.
In a letter to SummerStage sent Monday by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, the mayor’s office directly cited Cornell’s cancellation of the performance — and threatened to revoke SummerStage’s license and refer the matter to the police to determine if there was a “risk to public safety” posed by the concert.
“If the foundation does not promptly take steps to ensure public safety, the city reserves all rights and remedies to the foundation’s license,” Mastro wrote.
After the group cancelled the show, the mayor’s office seemed to admit that the goal of the letter was to get the concert nixed.
A spokesperson for Adams’s office said in a statement that the administration is “grateful to the City Parks Foundation for responding to our concerns and canceling the Kehlani concert in Central Park,” per The New York Times. Adams, a Democrat, has been a key figure empowering the violent police crackdown on pro-Palestine activists on New York City campuses.
Late last month, Cornell cancelled a performance by Kehlani, citing their “anti-Israel sentiments” and claiming, without evidence, that they have espoused antisemitic sentiments.
The Grammy-nominated singer has spoken up numerous times against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The artist, for instnace, incorporated pro-Palestinian imagery in a 2024 music video for their song, “Next 2 U.” In the video, the singer and background dancers wore outfits made with keffiyeh material, while they performed in front of a Palestinian flag. The beginning of the video shows a poem by Palestinian American poet Hala Alyan, and the phrase “long live the intifada.”
In response to Cornell’s cancellation, Kehlani said in a video posted online, “I’m being asked and called to clarify and make a statement yet again for the millionth time that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew.”
“I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government,” they said. “I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women. That’s what I’m anti.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) New York had previously condemned Cornell’s cancellation as suppression of free speech.
“The decision to cancel Kehlani’s performance comes after Cornell University has repeatedly suppressed student protests for Palestine and against genocide,” said CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher.
“We strongly condemn Cornell not just for cancelling Kehlani’s performance due to her pro-Palestinian stance, but for clearly demonstrating its lack of commitment to free speech and diverse opinion by policing the speech and opinion only of political beliefs in support of Palestine,” Nasher went on.
Kehlani is the latest in a long line of artists, writers and academics who are Palestinian or who have spoken out about Palestinian rights who have faced event cancellations and other retaliation amid the genocide. Recently, Irish band Kneecap faced a deluge of negative press and threats of legal retaliation from U.K. authorities after speaking out for Palestinian rights during a performance at Coachella, in California.
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