President Michael Kotlikoff said he’d rescinded the Grammy Award-nominated R&B artist’s invitation to perform next month at the university’s “Slope Day” end-of-year celebration — just days after the school initially defended the move.

“Unfortunately, although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day,” he wrote in a letter to students and staff.

“In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media.”

“While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it,” he added.

Kotlikoff acknowledged he would likely face criticism for backtracking but said it was “the right thing to do” after speaking privately with students.

It comes after the Ivy League’s prez had claimed that university brass and Slope Day organizers were initially unaware of Kehlani’s Jew-bashing rhetoric when they first began negotiating for her to perform – despite her views being widely publicized online.

The artist herself posted a music video last spring that starts with “Long live the Intifada” — an inflammatory phrase that critics say promotes violence against Israelis and Jews.

She also shared a map online that eliminates the state of Israel and refused to condemn Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks.

Meanwhile, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism had exposed Kehlani’s anti-Israel and antisemitic views as early as last summer.

Members of the student group Cornellians for Israel quickly launched a petition and GoFundMe drive threatening to boycott the event if the school didn’t replace the controversial performer.

The group vowed to also get their own entertainer and stage a unifying counter-concert on the Ithaca campus.

When the mounting outrage first kicked off, Kotlikoff had initially told the Cornell Student Assembly that it was “too late” to dump the singer-songwriter ahead of the May 7 event.

“President Kotlikoff’s excuse that it’s ‘too late to cancel’ is a cowardly abdication of leadership. There is never a deadline on doing what is right,” StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez said.

When the mounting outrage first kicked off, Kotlikoff had initially told the Cornell Student Assembly that it was “too late” to dump the singer-songwriter ahead of the May 7 event.

“If the performer held views targeting any other minority group, the university would act swiftly. Jewish students deserve the same protection and respect.”

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