Senators Scott, Moody Demand Tampa Cancel Ye’s June Concerts
Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody stood inside the Florida Holocaust Museum Monday to demand Tampa cancel two Ye concerts scheduled for later this month.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA — Florida’s two U.S. senators joined local Jewish leaders Monday at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg to demand that the Tampa Sports Authority cancel two upcoming concerts by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, citing his repeated antisemitic statements and arguing the shows represent a misuse of public funds.
Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody called on the Tampa Sports Authority (TSA) to cancel performances by the artist, who now performs under the name Ye, scheduled for June 26 and June 28 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The TSA, which manages events at Raymond James Stadium, is pushing back, saying no taxpayer dollars are being used to stage the concerts and that canceling them would violate the First Amendment.
Senators: Public Agency Should Not Host Ye
Speaking at the Florida Holocaust Museum, Scott and Moody argued that because the TSA is a public entity, the concerts effectively involve taxpayer dollars. The TSA is an independent government agency and special district established by the Florida Legislature in the 1960s to develop and manage sports and recreational activities in Tampa and Hillsborough County.
“This is bigger than politics,” Sen. Scott said, standing between a railroad boxcar similar to those used by the Nazis to transport Jewish people and other prisoners to concentration camps.
West has made a series of widely documented antisemitic comments and actions in recent years. In February 2025, he posted statements on social media that included the phrases “I love Hitler. I’m a Nazi,” “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” and “I don’t like or trust any Jewish person.” In May 2025, he released a song titled “Heil Hitler” that sampled audio from a 1935 speech by Adolf Hitler at the Krupp Factory in Germany.
Cancellations Abroad, Defiance at Home
West’s antisemitic conduct has led authorities in Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Poland to cancel his scheduled performances in those countries. In the United States, however, the Tampa concerts have not been called off.
The TSA has rejected the senators’ demands, maintaining that no public money is funding the shows and that canceling the events on the basis of the performer’s speech would constitute a First Amendment violation. The agency has framed the matter as a free-speech issue rather than one involving the use of taxpayer resources.
Pressure Mounts Ahead of June Dates
With the first performance scheduled for June 26, pressure on Tampa officials is growing. The senators were joined at Monday’s event by local Jewish community leaders, who echoed calls for the TSA to reverse course.
The dispute puts the TSA at the center of a debate over the limits of public agency discretion when booking performers, the use of government-managed venues, and the reach of First Amendment protections. Both Scott and Moody characterized the decision to book West not as a legal question, but as one of judgment and appropriateness for a public institution.
As of June 19, 2026, the TSA had not announced any change to the scheduled performances, according to the Florida Phoenix.
