Ye or nay? Scott, Moody call for cancellation of Kanye West concerts

In between a box car, once used to transport Jews to concentration camps, and Thor, a Danish fishing boat which smuggled Jewish refugees to Sweden, Sen. Rick Scott and an entourage of political and community leaders gathered at the Florida Holocaust Museum Monday and denounced rapper Kanye West (now known as Ye – pronounced “yay”), who has back-to-back concerts scheduled later this month.

Scott et al. are calling on the Tampa Sports Authority to cancel Ye’s performances at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

Ye has garnered negative media attention since 2022 after making a series of antisemitic remarks. Among the most controversial moments was his May 8, 2025 release of the song “Heil Hitler,” which coincided with the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat. The song was widely panned. Australia barred his entry over it. Yet Ye continues to tour, selling out venues at premium ticket prices.

“Raymond James Stadium is a publicly funded venue,” said Scott. “Taxpayers should have a say in what happens … wherever that money goes, whatever we do with it, we as public officials are responsible, full stop.”

Scott contends that allowing Ye’s concert is akin to giving the public’s “seal of approval.”

Scott continued, “If you have a public venue you don’t get to go ‘Oh, I have to let everyone go.’ No, you do not. There’s no law that says you have to let people that hate Jews show up.”

Scott’s claim that taxpayers are funding Ye’s concert is only partially accurate. While taxpayers financed the construction of Raymond James Stadium, the venue largely operates through user fees and event revenue rather than ongoing taxpayer support.

However, there is a caveat: taxpayer funds may be tapped for approved renovations of the stadium or used to subsidize the venue if it fails to be profitable.

The debate creates a catch-22 for taxpayers: barring Ye’s performance could cost the venue revenue, while allowing it may anger some of the same taxpayers who helped finance the stadium’s construction.

So, to Ye or not to Ye?

Ticket prices for Ye’s June 26 and 28 concerts range from roughly $150 to nearly $500. Raymond James Stadium seats more than 50,000 people. A sold-out show would generate millions in revenue, though the bulk of that money would flow to the artist, promoters and production costs rather than directly to the Tampa Sports Authority.

Despite potential losses for the venue, Scott contended there is a “clear moral duty to reject hate at every level” and that booking Ye’s show was a mistake from the beginning.

“So fix it,” he added.

Sen. Ashley Moody echoed Scott’s argument, framing the issue as accountability to taxpayers, “The Tampa Sports Authority evaluates, approves, and hear my last word,” said Moody, “prioritizes the events that it books.”

“When you are a taxpayer-funded body, and you are prioritizing hate and antisemitism, you have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.

Moody contextualized Ye’s antisemitism within broader national events, drawing on the current conflict between Israel and Iran, anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses and rising attacks against Jewish people. Moody has previously pushed the RECLAIM Act, legislation that would claw back federal funding from colleges that fail to protect Jewish students.

The Tampa Sports Authority sees the issue as a free speech matter, not an endorsement of Ye. Following the press conference, the agency released an official statement:

“We condemn antisemitism from any source. However, we also respect free speech rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, even when we disagree with that speech. In addition, no taxpayer money is being used for staging the Ye concerts. To suggest otherwise is false.”

The central tension surrounding the controversy: Scott and Moody argue that a publicly owned venue has a responsibility to reject artists who promote hate, and that condemning speech and protecting speech are not mutually exclusive.

For now, Ye remains scheduled to perform in Tampa later this month, on June 26 and 28.

Despite the robust rhetoric from politicians, attorneys and community leaders, the most memorable statement of the afternoon came from Holocaust survivor Toni Rhinde, who taciturnly stated: “Let’s go and tell Kanye to F-off.”

Other speakers included Rhinde’s nephew Michael Igel, the former interim CEO of the museum; former Gov. Charlie Crist; Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell; Florida Holocaust Museum President and CEO Eric B. Stillman; Commissioner Chris Volkmann; and Pastor Scott Thomas.

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