Cornell revoked Kehlani’s invitation to headline Slope Day over what President Michael Kotlikoff labeled “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments.” A few days after the April 23 announcement, the R&B singer rebuked Kotlikoff’s classification.
“I am not antisemitic, nor anti-Jew,” Kehlani said in a video posted to her Instagram on Saturday. “I am anti-genocide. I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti the extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women — that’s what I’m anti.”
This is not the first time she has faced criticism for her beliefs. “This keeps coming up as a means to silence me, as a means to stop things that are happening in my career, as a means to change the course of my life, and I just don’t believe that,” Kehlani said.
In the caption of the video, Kehlani explicitly referred to Cornell’s cancellation of her performance. “If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your zionism. don’t make it anti-jew,” she wrote.
Kehlani wrote in the caption that following her Slope Day invitation being rescinded, “there are attempts at other cancellations on top of the cancellations i've already experienced over the past year.”
Kehlani was announced on April 10 as the headliner of Slope Day, the annual end-of-year concert held on Libe Slope after the last day of classes. Student and parent dissatisfaction arose in the weeks that followed over Kehlani’s anti-Israel sentiments on her social media.
In a video posted to X expressing her discontent with other music industry members for not speaking out in favor of Palestine, Kehlani said, “It’s f*ck Israel, it’s f*ck Zionism and it’s also f*ck a lot of y’all too.”
Kehlani’s beliefs also appear in her performances. Her “Next 2 U” music video — which was released in June 2024 — begins with the message “Long Live the Intifada,” in addition to featuring dancers in keffiyehs waving Palestinian flags. The word intifada is often associated with two Palestinian uprisings.
A week after Kehlani’s announcement as headliner, at an April 17 Student Assembly meeting, Kotlikoff criticized the choice of the outspokenly anti-Israel performer but stated that “it’s too late to secure another performer.”
Following Kotlikoff’s statements, pro-Israel group Cornellians for Israel launched a petition and GoFundMe to replace Kehlani’s headliner position. In an Instagram post promoting the petition, CFI called Kehlani “antisemitic” and pointed out how her opposition to Zionism “is a call to eradicate a core aspect of Jewish … identity.”
Soon after CFI’s campaign began, Kotlikoff held a meeting on April 22, which was promoted to several pro-Israel and historically Jewish Greek Life organizations. At the meeting, administrators discussed potential options for Slope Day moving forward and student dissatisfaction with Kehlani.
Shortly after, Kotlikoff announced in an April 23 email that Kehlani’s invitation to headline Slope Day was rescinded. A replacement headliner has not been announced at the time of publication.
Angelina Tang is a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is an Assistant News Editor for the 143rd editorial board. She can be reached at atang@cornellsun.com.
