Kehlani denies being "antisemtic" as singer addresses Cornell University removing her from concert lineup
Kehlani responded days after her headlining performance at Cornell University's annual Slope Day celebration was canceled. University president Michael Kotlikoff said in an April 23 statement about rescinding the singer's invitation for the event that it was because of "grave concerns" about a "performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments.
However, in Kehlani's response video, which she posted on Instagram on Saturday, April 26, 2025, she denied the accusations of being antisemitic. She made her stance clear, explaining what she was "anti."
"I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew. I am anti-genocide. I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, anti-extermination of entire people, anti-bombing of innocent children, men, and women. That's what I'm anti."
She said that she made the video because she was "being asked and called to clarify" the antisemitism allegations "for the millionth time." However, according to her, the allegations are far from being true, and she mentioned that her very first Live about the genocide was with the Jewish organization Jewish Voices for Peace.
She also noted at the beginning of the video that she was making the statement while "in the presence of my Jewish and Palestinian best friend and my Jewish Engineer."
"That's not gonna stop nothing": Kehlani responds after Cornell University responded to her invitation to perform at Slope Day
In the original statement announcing Kehlani's removal from the Slope Day lineup, Kotlikoff shared their reason for the decision. The university president mentioned that announcing the singer as the headliner in the event "has injected division and discord into Slope Day." Hence, he has canceled the singer's invitation and is looking for a new lineup for the event.
While the singer didn't directly comment on Cornell's decision to remove her from the lineup in the video, she said that she won't be silenced.
"I want to be very clear in stating that I do believe God has plans for me and that's not gonna stop nothing that I have going on, but I'm asked to clarify because this keeps coming up as a means to silence me, as a means to stop things that happen in my career, as a means to change the course of my life, and I just don't believe it."
In the caption, she gave a more direct response to her canceled show on Cornell's Slope Day, which was scheduled for May 7, 2025. She mentioned to her over 16 million followers on Instagram that they may have now seen that Cornell canceled her show, which she said wasn't the first cancellation that happened to her. There were others over the past year, too.
The Nights Like This singer also called for anyone who wants to cancel her shows to stand their ground and make the reason for their decision clear. Kehlani further wrote:
"If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your zionism. Don't make it anti-jew. This played out a game. All this because we want people to stop dying."
Kehlani has been transparent about her support for Palestine and her criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza. She made a bold statement in her Next 2 U music video last year when she featured Palestinian flags and said the phrase, 'Long Live the Intifada."
At the end of her response video, Kehlani teased that her next full-length album release would be the follow-up to Crash, which she released in 2024.
