Cornellians for Israel launched a petition against the selection of Kehlani as this year’s Slope Day headliner, stating that the use of “her platform to publicly call for the ‘intifada’ and to ‘dismantle Israel’” makes Jewish students feel unsafe. The petition, which has reached over 5,200 signatures in four days, calls on the University to create “an alternative experience.”
Kehlani was announced as the Slope Day headliner on April 10 and since then has faced backlash. Addressing the Student Assembly on Thursday, President Michael Kotlikoff criticized Kehlani’s Slope Day headline but said that it was “too late to secure another performer.”
The petition expressed Jewish students’ anger and safety concerns about attending Slope Day with Kehlani because of her views that “actively call for violence.” It called on the University administration to select a different artist to perform at Slope Day. The petition is open until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
“By giving a platform to a performer who has actively utilized her following to spread hateful messaging, you have turned this year’s Slope Day into a place that no longer supports ‘any person,’” the petition states.
Attached to the petition is a link to a CFI GoFundMe page that has raised over $25,000 in an effort to bring an alternative performer to Slope Day. So far the GoFundMe has raised over half of its $50,000 goal at the time of publication. In 2024, the Slope Day Programming Board allocated $350,000 to talent.
The funds from the GoFundMe will be used towards either securing a different performer or to “put on many more Pro-Israel events on campus.”
Kehlani is outspoken about her pro-Palestinian beliefs online. Her music video “Next 2 U,” released in June 2024, features dancers in keffiyehs waving Palestinian flags. In a separate video expressing her discontent with other music industry members for not speaking out in favor of Palestine she said, “It’s f*ck Israel, it’s f*ck Zionism, and it’s also f*ck a lot of y’all too.”
A joint Instagram post with CFI, Alums for Campus Fairness, StandWithUs Campus and Stand With Us also cited screenshots of Kehlani’s Instagram which she referred to Zionists as the “scum of the earth” and said they should “go to hell.”
The post called Kehlani “antisemitic” and pointed to her “history of promoting anti-Israel rhetoric and disinformation.”
“We’re calling on the university to refund our student activities fee or choose a different performer,” the Instagram post states.
Yael Schranz ’26, treasurer for CFI and executive board member, expressed her frustration with Kehlani being selected as the headliner.
“Inviting Kehlani to perform at Slope Day sends a harmful message to the Jewish community and all students at Cornell,” Schranz said. “Her rhetoric of antisemitic language directly contradicts our University’s values.”
Angelina Tang ’28 contributed reporting.
