Kehlani's Central Park concert canceled after NYC mayor raises security
concerns
[May 06, 2025]
By PHILIP MARCELO
NEW YORK (AP) — Kehlani 's planned concert in Central Park next month
has been canceled after New York City's mayor raised security concerns
about the R&B star's performance during Pride month, organizers
announced Monday.
The “After Hours” singer had been set to headline a June 26 concert
billed as “Pride with Kehlani” at the iconic Manhattan park as part of
SummerStage, an annual slate of free concerts at parks across the city.
But organizers, in their announcement, cited concerns from Mayor Eric
Adams' administration about the "controversy surrounding Cornell
University’s decision to cancel Kehlani’s concert at the University, as
well as security demands in Central Park and throughout the City for
other Pride events during that same period."
“We strongly and emphatically believe in artistic expression of all
kinds,” the organization wrote in the announcement posted on Instagram.
“However, the safety and security of our guests and artists is of the
utmost importance and in light of these concerns, the concert has been
cancelled."
Kehlani responded on Instagram Stories by sharing the announcement,
along with the phrase “lol.” The post included a selfie in which the
musician wrote: “I just found that one out on instagram by the way.”
A representative for Kehlani didn’t immediately respond to an email
seeking comment Monday.
Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said the administration was
“grateful” for the City Parks Foundation, the nonprofit that organizes
SummerStage, for responding to its concerns.
“We look forward to an exciting lineup of other performances this
summer,” she wrote in an email.
PEN America, a group that advocates for artists' freedom of expression,
called the cancellation “cowardly.”
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Kehlani arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2,
2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
 It noted the decision came as U.S.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat representing the Bronx, had slammed
Kehlani's appearance, saying the city has “no business subsidizing
or sanitizing antisemitism at taxpayer expense" in a post on X.
“It is deeply unsettling to see elected officials using their
offices to dictate the bounds of acceptable expression and muscling
private entities to fall into line,” PEN America said in a
statement. "No one wins when politicians meddle to suppress artistic
expression.”
Kehlani had been slated to perform at Cornell on May 7, but the Ivy
League school in upstate New York rescinded the invitation last
month, saying the planned appearance had “injected division and
discord” into its annual Slope Day celebration.
At the time, Kehlani pushed back at claims she had expressed
antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments.
“For the millionth time, that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew,”
she said in a video, also posted on Instagram. “I am anti-genocide.
I am anti-the actions of the Israeli government. I am anti-an
extermination of an entire people. I am anti-the bombing of innocent
children, men, women — that’s what I’m anti."
The California native has been vocal in supporting Palestinians
during the ongoing war in Gaza.
The music video “ Next 2 U,” notably, opens with the phrase “long
live the intifada" and features dancers waving Palestinian flags.
Intifada, an Arabic word for “uprising” or “resistance,” is seen by
some as a call for violence against Jews.
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