Earlier this month, it was announced that Kehlani would perform at Slope Day, the annual spring concert of Cornell University to celebrate the last days of the undergraduate lessons. His concert invitation was however canceled due to his opposition to the War of Israel in Gaza.
“Slope Day is a darling tradition in Cornell – for a moment for our community to meet to celebrate the end of the lessons. For decades, student leaders have taken the bar in the organization of this event, the hiring of performers they hope to please the student organization,” wrote the president of the university, Michael I. Kotlikoff, in an e -mail to students who have been published online.
“Unfortunately, although this is not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as a headliner of this year injected the division and the discord in the day of the slope,” he continued. “For this reason, I cancel Kehlani’s invitation and I expect a new programming for a big day of 2025 slope is announced shortly.”
Explaining his decision to withdraw Kehlani from the slope day, Kotlikoff said: “In the days that followed Kehlani’s announcement, I heard serious concerns of our community that many are angry, injured and confused that the day of the slope would present an interpreter who married anti -Semitic media, completely in our country for views, videos on the media. Unite our community, do not divide it. »»
Kehlani has long opposed the War of Israel in Gaza and has been supporting the Palestinians. The War of Israel in the territory degenerated after the attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis. A ceasefire settled in January 2025, but ended in March, because Israel accused Hamas of having violated the terms of the agreement. According to recent figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, the Israel’s offensive killed more than 51,000 Palestinians.
According to The Cornell sunStudents of Cornellians for Israel launched a petition against Kehlani’s selection shortly after his announcement for the day of the slope. The group challenged some of its publications on social networks and cited the singer’s clip “Next 2 U”, which opened its doors with the message “Live the Intifada”. The term “intifada”, an Arabic word for a rebellion or an uprising, is used by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to report the support of the release of the oppression region. It was also used to describe periods of violent protests from the Palestinians against the Israelis. Kehlani representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comments from Pitchfork.
Cornell’s decision to withdraw Kehlani from his spring concert arrives when President Donald J. Trump and his administration retract against freedom of expression on university campuses. The administration has particularly targeted schools that have treated students’ protests against Israel and the war in Gaza. Cornell, for example, recently, had more than a billion dollars frozen by the Trump administration while the government is investigating anti -Semitism allegations on campus.
