{"id":98275,"date":"2026-05-05T05:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/98275\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T05:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:42:19","slug":"gops-bruce-blakeman-pushes-nyc-venue-to-cancel-singer-for-rant-against-israel-jews-vile-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/98275\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP’s Bruce Blakeman pushes NYC venue to cancel singer for rant against Israel, Jews: ‘Vile person’"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said a Brooklyn theater should cancel a scheduled performance of an Uzbek singer over a reported anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rant.<\/p>\n

Blakeman, the Republican Party\u2019s pick to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in November, called it an outrage that 62-year-old singer Yulduz Usmonova would be allowed to perform at the Oceana Theater in Brighton Beach on May 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no place for hate speech or hate singing, for that matter, here in Brooklyn or anywhere in New York State or America,\u201d Blakeman said outside the venue at a press conference with local state lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Uzbek singer Yulduz Usmonova is scheduled to perform at Brooklyn\u2019s Oceana Theater on May 9. Yulduz Usmonova \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cThis woman is singing and she is performing, but she is a vile person,\u201d said Blakeman, who is currently serving as Nassau County executive. \u201cShe is a person filled with hate. She is riddled with antisemitism. There is no place for her to perform here in Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usmonova first sparked outrage in a social media post on May 13, 2021, when she went on a rant attacking the Jewish State and pledging support for Palestine.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet Israelis and other Jews know: We will not leave the Palestinians alone,\u201d she wrote. \u201cAt a single call, we will all go to help Palestine and fight alongside them against Israel. <\/p>\n

\u201cKnow this, all who are against Muslims will burn in fire. Know that we will unite,\u201d Usmonova said. \u201cWe are with you, dear Palestine. May the almighty rain all misfortunes upon your heads, Jews!\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments backfired \u2014 her 2024 performance at the Oceana Theater was cancelled after protests over her controversial stance, according to Uzbekistan\u2019s Qalampir news outlet<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Yulduz Usmonova should not be allowed to peform in Brooklyn Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

In recent interview, Usmonova tried to walk back her extremist statements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realize that things turned out badly with respect to the Jews and, overall, with respect to Israel,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u201dm reminded of a verse from the Surah \u2018Isra\u2019 [in the Qaran], which says, \u2018If you hate some people, then you yourself are acting wrongly by continuing to hate them.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a moment like this, you start asking yourself, \u2018Who is right?\u2019 And it would have been worth asking. At the time, I even considered myself right.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later admitted, \u201cI feel uneasy. That is the feeling tormenting me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2024 scheduled performance by Ulduz Usmonova at the Oceana Theater was cancelled amid protests. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

However, for Blakeman and the state reps who joined him outside the Oceana Theater on Monday, the recent comments don\u2019t erase the harm the singer has done.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re standing here in Brighton Beach, in the heart of one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, because something deeply disturbing and wrong is about to take place, and it demands a clear and immediate response,\u201d state Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-Brooklyn) told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about drawing the line,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will not allow our neighborhoods to become a cesspool for antisemitism. We will not allow antisemitism to be normalized, and we will not stay silent when our community is targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (R-Brooklyn), a Russian-Jewish immigrant, slammed the controversial singer as a poor representative of the city\u2019s Uzbek-American community.<\/p>\n

Singer Yulduz Usmonova, 62, has sparked controversy over her antisemitic remarks. Yulduz Usmonova \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Usmanova, stick to entertaining people and stop your attacks against the Jewish American community while pretending to be a voice of the Uzbek community,\u201d Brook-Krasny said.<\/p>\n

The Oceana Theater and reps for Usmonova did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said a Brooklyn theater should cancel a scheduled performance of an Uzbek singer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2492,34443,30703,37,8981,34444,933,5861],"class_list":{"0":"post-98275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-antisemitism","9":"tag-brighton-beach","10":"tag-brooklyn","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-theaters","14":"tag-us-news","15":"tag-uzbekistan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116520376260253246","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}