Sen. Rick Scott asked Tampa’s stadium authority on Thursday to reconsider two Ye concerts scheduled later this month at Raymond James Stadium, putting the fate of the June 26 and June 29 shows back in play. His letter singled out Ye’s history of praising Nazis and Adolf Hitler and said the performances should not go forward.
The request landed now because the clock is already running on the Tampa dates. Scott wrote to the Tampa Sports Authority on June 4 and said Kanye West’s repeated antisemitic remarks were vile and unacceptable, adding that he does not deserve a stage to spread hate anywhere, especially Florida. Raymond James Stadium is home to the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is one of the state’s most visible public venues.
Scott said West’s “consistent antisemitic attacks” were an affront to the values of Hillsborough County and called out the rapper’s record of openly praising Nazis, calling himself one and slandering Jews around the world. He also pointed to a 2025 Super Bowl ad that he said directed viewers to buy merchandise featuring swastikas. The appeal was framed not just as a local dispute but as one tied to Florida’s large Jewish community, which Scott said is among the biggest in the country.
The Tampa Sports Authority has not said it will cancel the concerts, but it did acknowledge the pressure building around them. The agency said it recognizes the concerns and viewpoints being expressed about the upcoming events at Raymond James Stadium and said that, as a public agency, it follows free-speech principles in operating the venue even though it does not condone remarks or actions from artists that are offensive and divisive.
That leaves the core question unresolved: whether the authority will keep the June 26 and June 29 shows on the calendar or pull them before Ye’s stage is rolled into Tampa. West has already seen planned shows pulled in London, Poland and France over past anti-Jewish hate speech, while he has also managed to play multiple-night stands in Mexico City and Los Angeles and a May 30 show in Istanbul. He was slated to perform Saturday at Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands, underscoring that Tampa is only one stop in a tour still moving despite the controversy surrounding it.
