San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has urged organizers to cancel Kanye West’s planned performance in the Texas city on July 4, U.S. Independence Day. The concert is still listed as scheduled at a venue funded by the city, and tickets are still being sold.
In a post on X on June 20, Jones said, "I support canceling Kanye West's performance." She added that "this city should not host a person with a history of hate speech and antisemitic remarks at a city-funded venue, ever, and certainly not on July 4, the 250th birthday of our nation." Jones said, "Standing up to antisemitism is exactly what is required of us."
Her appeal follows a similar push from Florida Senator Rick Scott, who asked Tampa’s sports authority to cancel West’s shows at Raymond James Stadium on June 26 and 28. Scott called a performance in a publicly funded stadium "a slap in the face" to Florida’s Jewish community amid what he described as "relentless antisemitic attacks." Tampa officials responded that they follow free-speech principles, while stressing they do not support offensive or divisive statements by performers.
West’s comeback tour has been repeatedly disrupted by his antisemitic comments and use of Nazi imagery. In April, Wireless Festival canceled its 2026 events after the British government blocked him from entering the country, even though he had been set to headline all three London nights. Shows planned in Poland and Switzerland were also canceled, a French concert was postponed, and an Italy appearance was scrapped over safety concerns. Despite that, West did perform this year at SoFi Stadium in California and in Istanbul, where he claimed an audience of 118,000 and said it was the largest stadium concert ever.
In January, West ran a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for antisemitic and other offensive remarks, linking his behavior to mental health struggles and promising accountability, treatment, and change. But in 2025 he later walked back a previous apology to the Jewish community, again declared on X that he was a "Nazi," and then said that after further thought he realized he was not. His latest album, Bully, was released in March after its first live-streamed debut on YouTube.
