{"id":890594,"date":"2026-06-25T00:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T00:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/890594\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T00:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T00:27:23","slug":"disinvited-elsewhere-kanye-west-found-a-city-that-couldnt-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/890594\/","title":{"rendered":"Disinvited elsewhere, Kanye West found a city that couldn’t say no"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the midst of major budget discussions<\/a>, economic development deals<\/a> and utility rate hikes<\/a>, this week San Antonio\u00a0city leaders once again found themselves scrambling to react to a broader cultural debate that landed squarely at their feet.<\/p>\n

The last-minute scheduling of a Ye, or Kanye West, concert<\/a> caught the attention of an outspoken mayor and rankled Jewish leaders who consider his track record of antisemitic comments dangerous.<\/p>\n

Now four days later, the San Antonio City Council has been tested by debates weighing morals vs. money, a hard-to-pass-up-on lucrative Alamodome contract, a last-minute ban on swastika merch and a mortifying moment for one of its most spotlight-averse members.<\/p>\n

Before this week, some of the council\u2019s 10 members said they weren\u2019t even up-to-speed on West\u2019s history of public comments.<\/p>\n

Conservative Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) had already accepted free tickets to the show before issuing a mortified apology<\/a> from her trip to Israel <\/strong>days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who\u00a0knows Councilwoman Spears\u00a0would be able to guess she\u2019s not a Kanye fan,\u201d spokeswoman Megan Coleman said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

By the time the dust seemingly settled, most of the city leaders had denounced West\u2019s speech \u2014 but a majority had signaled<\/a> they wouldn\u2019t seek to cancel a show with high earning potential for the city.<\/p>\n

Now the mayor wants more say over how such events are scheduled in the first place, while others fear a censorship fight with wide-ranging implications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the government begins making decisions about which artists, speakers or events are acceptable based on ideology or viewpoint, those tools can later be used in ways that harm other communities and causes,\u201d progressive Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) wrote on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How it started<\/p>\n

When West\u2019s antisemitic remarks caused shows to fall through in other cities, his team inked a June 2 contract with the Alamodome as part of an expanded appearance schedule rolled out last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately after the event was publicized, it caught the attention of Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, whose Saturday afternoon social media post calling to cancel<\/a> it landed her in national headlines before many knew how that would work \u2014 or if it was even legal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not tracking the concert, frankly, this is an administrative thing, this is handled by the staff that handles the booking of the concerts [at the Alamodome],\u201d Jones said on TPR\u2019s The Source on Monday. \u201c\u2026 [But] if we wanted to cancel this, the council would have to take a public action asking the city manager to do just that, so a public vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Jones, the debate was inevitable. <\/p>\n

The United Kingdom canceled West\u2019s\u00a0travel permits earlier this year, and an entire\u00a0music festival was scrapped<\/a>\u00a0when he couldn\u2019t perform.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kanye West at the 67th Grammy Awards on February 2, 2025. Credit: Elyse Jankowski \/ Reuters<\/p>\n

Italy barred his concerts after\u00a0pushback from Jewish leaders<\/a>\u00a0who would eventually\u00a0lead the opposition<\/a>\u00a0in San Antonio as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the upcoming show in Tampa, even U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) has gotten<\/a> involved to try to stop it.<\/p>\n

But as with the\u00a0wave of C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez\u00a0cancellations<\/a>\u00a0that rocked San Antonio in March, or the race to\u00a0mirror Dallas\u2019 move to November elections<\/a>\u00a0that Jones pushed in December, city leaders were left scrambling to understand their next steps. <\/p>\n

West\u2019s team has wised up about the backlash, according to local media reports in Florida,<\/a> adding contract language to his Tampa show barring <\/strong>cancellation based on his past public statements or political viewpoints.<\/p>\n

The 20-page Alamodome contract<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t appear to include such language, but Jones still wasn\u2019t able to muster the support for her cancel effort from a <\/strong>council that\u2019s long been drawn to culture wars.<\/p>\n

Picking their battles<\/p>\n

San Antonio City Council once famously tried to ban Chick-fil-A<\/a> from the San Antonio International Airport, and leaders turned up their noses<\/a> at the idea of competing for the 2020 Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n

But today\u2019s oft-combative council is full of new members, some of whom publicly likened cancelling the Kanye concert to censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be honest that decisions made in moments of urgency can set long-term precedents,\u201d McKee-Rodriguez wrote.<\/p>\n

Council members also noted<\/a> that the event \u201cmatters economically\u201d to a city with big financial challenges<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"\"D2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez listens to City Attorney Andy Segovia speak during a meeting in May. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

The earliest draft of their upcoming budget calls for tax increases and major cuts \u2014 from the book festival to the botanical garden \u2014 to account for a $153 million deficit.<\/p>\n

The Alamodome contract<\/a> lists\u00a0a $400,000 licensing fee, consignment\u00a0on merchandise\u00a0sales,\u00a0parking fees and more \u2014 much of which would end up in city coffers.<\/p>\n

Overall, the concert has a projected $1.7 million economic impact, according to letter six council members<\/a> published Tuesday. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s as hotel reservations are already up 22% since the concert was announced.<\/p>\n

Growing backlash<\/p>\n

As West is welcomed by fewer and fewer venues, San Antonio is a just replacement for sets canceled elsewhere.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a city with one of the lowest advance ticket sale ratings in the country, which has long discouraged big acts from including San Antonio<\/a> on their tours to begin with.<\/p>\n

The contract with West, now known as Ye,\u00a0lists rights<\/a> to a\u00a0possible second show on July 5.<\/p>\n

As of Wednesday afternoon, the first show had not sold out, however, and neither West\u2019s team nor the city responded to a request for comment on the possibility of a second. <\/p>\n

Jones conceded Tuesday that she doesn\u2019t have the votes to cancel the event. But she says the whirlwind press conference, council panic and media blitz hasn\u2019t been for nothing.<\/p>\n

The Alamodome contract has been amended to prohibit West from singing his \u201cHeil Hitler\u201d song and selling\u00a0swastika merchandise<\/a>, Jones said in an interview with KSAT Tuesday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The experience also opens the door for the city to do something different in the future, she said, when events at a publicly-owned facility could cause the city \u201creputational harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this has raised is the need for a process \u2026 that helps bring these kinds of potential issues to the council\u2019s at least awareness, when there may be some kind of potential public backlash,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

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