Philadelphia Mayor Calls Made In America Controversy 'Misunderstanding'

On Wednesday (July 18), Jay-Z wrote a lengthy op-ed for The Philadelphia Inquirer calling out Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney for the poor way he handled announcing that the city's Ben Franklin Parkway would not host his annual Made In America festival next year.

“We are disappointed that the mayor of the city of Philadelphia would evict us from the heart of the city, through a media outlet, without a sit-down meeting, notice, dialogue, or proper communication,” he wrote before claiming that Kenney tried to shut down this year's festival all together.  “This administration immediately greeted us with a legal letter trying to stop the 2018 event,” he said.

Now, the mayor is explaining himself.

“The City of Philadelphia supports the Made in America festival and is greatly appreciative of all that it has done for Philadelphia. We are committed to its continued success and thank them for their partnership," a representative for Kenney's office tells Billboard. "We hope to be able to resolve what has been an unfortunate misunderstanding. We are working with Roc Nation and Live Nation to resolve this issue and we are committed to continuing our partnership with the Made in America festival.”

Live Nation also issued a statement:

"Live Nation wholeheartedly supports Jay-Z and Roc Nation’s bid to keep the Made In America Festival at its home on the Ben Franklin Parkway. We have yet to hear a compelling or plausible explanation for why the festival cannot return to the site where it has successfully been housed for six years and generated $102.8M in positive economic impact to the city. From Billie Holiday to Will Smith, Patti LaBelle, Jill Scott, The Roots and countless others, urban music is an indelible part of Philadelphia’s culture and history. By handicapping Made In America’s ability to bring the best show possible to the best site possible, this administration makes a statement about how it values the arts and plans to protect and expand the city’s vibrant musical heritage."

This year's Made in America festival takes place September 1st and 2nd at Ben Franklin Parkway and includes headliners Meek MillNicki Minaj and Post Malone.

Photo: Getty Images


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