R&B singer Kehlani was scheduled to perform at a concert event at Cornell University next month, but it has been canceled due to their support for the Palestinian people and their stance on the war in Gaza. The decision was announced by Cornell University president Michael I. Kotlikoff in an email on Wednesday (April 23), where he wrote that “although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord” into the Slope Day event, which is held after the last day of classes at the school.
“In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos and on social media,” Kotlikoff wrote, adding that the choice would “be celebrated by some and criticized by others,” but it was “the right thing to do.”
The 30-year-old singer has been consistently vocal in their support for the Palestinian people and against Israel’s actions in the war. Kehlani was a signee of the Artists Against Apartheid letter calling for a ceasefire in October 2023 and featured Palestinian flags and kaffiyehs in their “Next 2 U” video. The singer has also criticized the silence of other artists regarding Gaza, saying in a video from last May, “f— Israel, f— Zionism.”
The news was disappointing to students expecting to see Kehlani. “I was ecstatic,” said Black Students United history co-chair Muna Mohamed in an interview with the New York Times. And then, “to see it kind of torn from us so quickly, it was kind of like, oh, our happiness never really mattered in the long run.”
Cornell University is one of the Ivy League institutions which has been targeted by the Trump administration over allegations of antisemitism, having had $1 billion in federal funding frozen by President Donald Trump. The decision also comes after Gambian-British student Momodou Taal, who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Cornell, left the school this year to avoid being forcibly deported by the administration.
