GOP’s Bruce Blakeman pushes NYC venue to cancel singer for rant against Israel, Jews: ‘Vile person’
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is urging a Brooklyn theater to cancel a performance by Uzbek singer Yulduz Usmonova due to her past antisemitic remarks. Blakeman and local lawmakers condemned Usmonova's 2021 social media rant against Jews and Israel, calling her a 'vile person' filled with hate. Although Usmonova has since expressed regret, officials argue her past comments disqualify her from performing in a major Jewish community.
- ▪Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, demanded the cancellation of Yulduz Usmonova's May 9 performance at the Oceana Theater in Brighton Beach.
- ▪Usmonova sparked outrage in 2021 with a social media post supporting Palestine and using antisemitic language, including calling for Jews to 'burn in fire.'
- ▪Her 2024 performance at the same venue was previously canceled due to public protests over her controversial statements.
- ▪Usmonova later expressed regret, citing a Quranic verse about the wrongfulness of hatred and acknowledging her discomfort with her past remarks.
- ▪State lawmakers Michael Novakhov and Alec Brook-Krasny joined Blakeman in condemning the planned performance, emphasizing the need to combat antisemitism in Brooklyn's Jewish communities.
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Metro GOP’s Bruce Blakeman pushes NYC venue to cancel singer for rant against Israel, Jews: ‘Vile person’ By Reuven Fenton and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon Published May 4, 2026, 5:27 p.m. ET 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. Blakeman, the Republican Party’s 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. “There is no place for hate speech or hate singing, for that matter, here in Brooklyn or anywhere in New York State or America,” Blakeman said outside the venue at a press conference with local state lawmakers.
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