No Nazi merchandise. No performance of “Heil Hitler.” No images or videos that glorify or promote Nazism. Those are the limits Republican Senator Rick Scott says he was told Ye will keep at his concert in Tampa.
Scott laid them out in a post on X. “It’s deeply concerning there even has to be a commitment like this made by a performer in a publicly funded facility,” he wrote.
On Friday, mobile billboards protesting Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, circled Raymond James Stadium. Scott had pushed to get the concerts canceled because of Ye’s history of antisemitism.
The petition
A petition Scott circulated put it bluntly: “There’s no place for antisemitism in Florida, especially at the expense of the taxpayer.” It went on to say that leaders should “do everything in our power to keep public money and resources out of this kind of event,” and that the concerts “should not take place at Raymond James Stadium or any other publicly supported venue in the State of Florida.”
Earlier this month Scott held a press conference with Holocaust survivors, Jewish leaders and other politicians, demanding that Ye’s shows not be tolerated in Tampa. “Some of the worst sins in human history begin with the words, ‘I was just,’” he said there.
The Tampa Sports Authority did not move. It denied that any taxpayer money was being used to stage the concerts. It said it condemns antisemitism, but also respects Ye’s free speech rights.
