Ivy league school cancels end-of-year concert headliner Kehlani for her antisemitic song lyrics

Daily Mail​

24-04-2025

Cornell University has dropped R&B star Kehlani as its end-of-year concert headliner over their antisemitic song lyrics.
The 'After Hours' singer, who uses she/they pronouns, was scheduled to perform at the Ivy League school's 'Slope Day' on May 7, but on Wednesday President Michael Kotlikoff said he was rescinding the invite because it has 'injected division and discord' into the event.
Kehlani, who was announced as the headliner on April 10, publicly supported Palestinians in the music video for her song 'Next 2 U', which features the phrase 'long live the intifada' at the beginning of the clip.
The Arabic word Intifada stands for the 'resistance' or 'uprising' against Israel, calling for violence against Jews.
The songstress, 30, was also seen in the clip, dressed in keffiyehs alongside her dancers, and standing in front of the Palestinian flag.
After hearing 'grave concerns' about her presence on campus, Kotlikoff officially booted her from the event.
'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,' he said in a letter.
'While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it.'
Before making the final decision, Kotlikoff said on Thursday it was 'too late to secure another performer that will be acceptable or appropriate for Slope Day,' The Cornell Daily Sun reported.
By Tuesday, Kotlikoff had met with about 70 students to discuss the performance during a town-hall meeting that was geared toward members of Jewish Greek life organizations and pro-Israel campus group, per the outlet.
Kehlani not only used her video to share her beliefs, but has also taken to her Instagram and called Zionists the 'scum of the earth,' and that they should 'go to hell,' according to Cornellians for Israel.
Going forward, Kotlikoff said that he and members of the Slope Day Programming Board have agreed to create 'what is meant to be an inclusive event.'
'Going forward, we will work together to revise the process for researching and selecting performers for this important annual event,' he wrote.
DailyMail.com contacted Kehlani's team for comment.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump's administration froze over $1 billion in federal funding to Cornell.
Cornell's funding was frozen amid a civil-rights probe over whether the institution failed to prevent antisemitic discrimination and harassment on its campus.
The president cracked down on Ivy League schools earlier this month, including Northwestern University. His administration froze $790 million for the Illinois school.
Meanwhile, Harvard University has sued the Trump administration in an effort to reverse the federal freeze on more than $2.2billion in grants.
In its lawsuit, Harvard said the funding freeze was 'arbitrary and capricious' and violated its First Amendment rights.
'The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen,' the lawsuit, filed in Boston federal court, stated.
The research which is now at risk 'aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation.'
In a letter to Harvard earlier this month, the Trump administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university as well as changes to its admissions policies.
It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus, and stop recognizing certain student clubs.
Harvard President Alan Garber said the university would not bend to the demands. Hours later, the government froze the billions of dollars of federal funding.