Haim Saban, Sherry Lansing and Other Leaders Call out Ticketmaster for Enabling Farrakhan Event

The leading ticketing platform in sports and entertainment doesn’t seem to have a problem with Louis Farrakahn’s long history of anti-Semitism, according to a letter sent by entertainment industry heavyweights to Ticketmaster this week.

Creative Community for Peace, a leading entertainment industry trade group that promotes tolerance through the arts, sent a letter to Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino, expressing great concern about Ticketmaster selling tickets to Louis Farrakhan’s upcoming Saviours’ Day event on February 26h at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

The letter, which was signed by entertainment executives Haim Saban, Sherry Lansing, singer/songwriter Diane Warren, and more than 120 other entertainment industry leaders, highlights a list of antisemitic and homophobic statements from Louis Farrakhan at past Saviours’ Day events. It urges the company to reconsider selling tickets to the event and to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, a guideline to help identify and combat anti-Jewish hate, such as that often espoused by Farrakhan.

“Mr. Farrakhan has labeled Judaism a “gutter religion;” stated that Jewish religious writings are responsible for “pedophilia, homosexuality, and sex trafficking” in America; regularly praises Hitler, calling him “a very great man;” the letter stated. “[Farrakhan] refers to Jews as insects; and falsely and outrageously claims that Jews orchestrated and dominated the African slave trade.”

Mr. Farrakhan has repeatedly invoked “Satan” when referring to the Jewish people. In his 2017 speech at Saviors’ Day, he said “Those who call themselves ‘Jews,’ who are not really Jews, but are in fact, Satan. You should learn to call them by their real name: ‘Satan.’ You are coming face-to-face with Satan, the Arch Deceiver, the enemy of God and the enemy of the Righteous.” And in 2020, he promoted violence by stating, “”Those of you who say that you are Jews, I will not even give you the honor of calling yourself Jews. You are not a Jew. You are so-called. You are Satan. It is my job now to pull the cover off of Satan. So when every Muslim sees Satan, pick up a stone.”

The letter includes additional incendiary quotes from Mr. Farrakhan over the years, highlighting his pattern of sharing antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories with his audience. It also notes the fact that there are more hate crimes per capita against Jews than any other minority and that “, providing support of any kind to this sort of hatred is not just unacceptable, but dangerous.”

CCFP Director Ari Ingel added, “Louis Farrakhan is one of the leading purveyors of antisemitism in America, as noted by the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center. His views are incredibly dangerous and we’re disappointed to see Ticketmaster enable his promulgation of hatred. We hope Mr. Rapino reconsiders, especially at a time when antisemitism continues to become more and more normalized.”

At the time of this writing, Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino has yet to respond to CCFP’s request.