Emails show how Kanye West’s Tampa shows were booked, and how they became almost impossible to cancel

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Despite immense public outcry and pressure from Florida politicians and the Jewish community, the Tampa Bay Sports Authority has claimed for over a month its hands are tied when it comes to canceling two shows this weekend by “former” Nazi and Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West, due to First Amendment issues and strict contract challenges.

However, emails obtained by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay show that in the days leading up to the concert announcement, the TSA worked with West’s camp to add otherwise atypical language to early drafts of the contract, essentially preventing the cancellation of shows by a controversial artist widely known for songs like “Heil Hitler.”

On March 10, a day after West announced shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, TSA vice president of stadium operations David Moss was contacted by Cashiz Cavollii of Cavolliiway Management Inc. to book the artist at Raymond James Stadium for a single show on March 26.

The email correspondence came just a few months after West — whose stage name is now “Ye” — posted a lengthy apology in the Wall Street Journal claiming he’s no longer a self-identified Nazi and then released his latest album, Bully.

Over the next few days, Moss and Cavollii (who filled out the TSA contact form as “Antonio Clay”), shopped various spring and summer dates close to the March 28 release date for West’s new album. At one point the two agreed on May 9, but Cavollii scuttled the idea because it was too close to Orlando’s Rolling Loud festival.

On May 7, Moss told Cavollii there was availability on June 26 for one show, with the possibility of adding a second depending on demand.

Moss also expressed concern the potential Tampa shows might not be real, and stated that the venue had already been inundated for months from various promoters, all claiming to have the ability and connections to book Kanye West.

“I’ve had seven different entities reach out over the last few months claiming they have an agreement with Ye and want to book a show with us, so before I’m willing to jump in with both feet, I have to know this is 100% real and that you all are under contract,” wrote Moss in an email thread with West’s manager Peter Jideonwo, Yeezy marketing director Amanda Cabrera, Ikon Presents promoter Neal Carter, and Cavollii.

“Cashiz is the first and only person to bring in you, Peter and Neal, so that’s a great start, but I will need to see a copy of your agreement (financials and any personal data can be redacted, of course) to confirm everything,” continued Moss.

At the time of this correspondence, Ye’s tour already had multiple overseas performances canceled due to public safety concerns and outcry over his previous antisemitic remarks.

But Moss went on to assure everyone that Raymond James Stadium was available to book West on June 26, and that it wouldn’t be difficult to add a show on June 28.

“We do have Friday, June 26th open for a potential show at Raymond James Stadium,” said Moss. “I have an event already under contract for Saturday the 27th [referring to Night Run Nation] so if we were to do a roll to a 2nd show, it will either need to be on Thursday the 25th or Sunday the 28th. The event on the 27th is outside in our parking lots, so it won’t interfere with a load-out following Friday’s show.”

On May 8, Moss sent Cavollii a basic contract and asked him to look it over.

“Please let me know what questions or comments you have once you’ve had a chance to review,” wrote Moss. “Please send ticket prices/scaling over as soon as you can so we can start working on building the event.”

Two days later, on Sunday, May 10, Cavollii responded to Moss saying West’s team was fine with the contract, but said they wouldn’t proceed unless the stadium’s “Unilateral Right to Cancel” provision stayed out of the final agreement, and insisted the contract needed to remove “any discretionary or politically influenced termination rights.”

Moss promptly removed the “Unilateral Right to Cancel” clause, assuring Cavollii it was “boilerplate,” and on Tuesday, May 12, reached out to Tampa Sports Authority CEO Eric Hart and general counsel Jeffrey Gibson of GrayRobinson, asking if they were fine with West’s “political termination” request.

“Good morning,” wrote Moss. “The promoter for the potential Kanye West concert next month has requested one language insertion into the Emergency Termination section. Please see below and let me know your thoughts.

For the avoidance of doubt, Authority shall not have the right to terminate, suspend, cancel, or otherwise interfere with the Event based upon artist identity, prior or past public statements, public perception, political viewpoints, or the anticipated or actual content of the performance, provided that such performance complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and venue regulations.

“Everything else they are accepting our standard agreement language as is,” concluded Moss.

Later that day, Gibson responded with “I’m fine with it legally.”

Bobby Silvest, Tampa Sports Authorty Vice President of Marketing and Communications, told CL in an email that this type of additional contact item “is not normally in our agreements,” adding that TSA also modified its own indemnity clause to make West’s team solely responsible for any liability claims at the shows.

Email obtained by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Over the next couple of days, TSA agreed to the terms and conditions, and on May 19, confirmed to West’s team that they received the nonrefundable deposit of $50,000.

On May 21, Raymond James Stadium’s website announced the performances, and the pushback happened almost immediately.

So far, calls to cancel the two shows have come from Florida Senator (and Medicare fraudster) Rick Scott, as well as Florida’s junior Senator Ashley Moody, the Florida Holocaust Museum, Tampa Jewish Federation, the Florida National Organization for Women and others.

But TSA has doubled down on its position, claiming West has a First Amendment right to perform and that the public entity has contractual obligations and a duty to book financially profitable events at the stadium.

“We condemn antisemitism from any source. However, we also respect free speech rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, even when we disagree with that speech,” the TSA wrote in a statement on June 15.

Under the contract signed by TSA, the organization can now only cancel the concerts if the federal government raises its terrorism-threat assessment to Level 5, the promoter lapses on its insurance, or if “another emergency arises which, in the sole discretion of Authority, is required for the protection of persons and property,” including a pandemic or dangerous weather.

If both shows proceed, contracts between promoters, management and the TSA show that entities connected to the controversial rapper will pay the TSA $1.5 million for the right to use the stadium for two nights, with more revenue coming to the TSA via ticket facility fees, parking, concessions and suite sales. Raymond James Stadium also takes a merch cut (20% from soft goods, 10% from sales of CDs and other recorded media). The TSA will also be reimbursed for additional security and any ancillary expenses.

Tickets for the shows started between $72-$182 as of Monday afternoon, with the second show showing hordes of unsold seats that concert industry watchers have called “blue dot fever,” in reference to the markings that show available tickets.

Reps for West have not yet responded to CL’s requests for comment.

This story was originally reported by Colin Wolf and published by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. CL Editor-in-Chief Ray Roa contributed to this story.

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