"Kehlani an Oakland-native and Grammy-nominated R&B artist whose past comments about the Israel-Gaza War previously led to event cancellations or the withdrawal of sponsorships in other cities will perform at a gigantic block party put on in partnership with San Jose Foos on Feb. 6 in front of City Hall."
"Kehlani is one of many artists we will have performing in San Jose in 2026 around these major sporting events and she has her views on what's going on in Gaza. We may have artists who are on the opposite side of that and have strong pro-Israel views, if you want to call it that. We may have other artists who don't care or don't have an opinion."
"And my view is outside of hate speech or inciting violence or the kind of speech that really crosses the line, I believe we ought to support the free speech of all of our residents and of public artisans or performers."
San Jose announced Oakland-native Kehlani will headline a Super Bowl week block party on Feb. 6 in front of City Hall, produced with San Jose Foos. Kehlani previously faced event cancellations and sponsor withdrawals after Gaza-related comments. Remarks supporting Palestinians and criticizing the Israeli government prompted accusations of antisemitism that Kehlani vehemently denied. Mayor Matt Mahan defended the booking, warning against cancel culture and deplatforming and urging protection of First Amendment expression outside of hate speech or incitement. City officials aim to leverage upcoming 2026 Bay Area sporting events to draw visitors and expand San Jose programming.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]