SoFi

Isaac Martinez has been as a cook at SoFi Stadium for four years. He’s worked dozens of NFL games, a Super Bowl, Taylor Swift concerts, Wrestlemania and the college football national championship game, among dozens of other events.

And he’s never been afraid to come to work. Until now.

He’s not alone. With the World Cup kicking off at the Inglewood venue next month, Martinez says he and many of the people who work in food services and other jobs at the stadium won’t feel safe if federal immigration agents are present during the tournament.

“Most of the workers are afraid. They fear for their safety,” Martinez said in Spanish. “This is also about the fans. People come from everywhere, even from Iran. So we’re concerned about their safety.”

Workers and activists begin their march from MacArthur Park to downtown Los Angeles on Friday in recognition of May Day. The group stopped at the FIFA local organizing offices to protest ICE’s presence at World Cup matches.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

So concerned, Unite Here Local 11, the hospitality union that represents Martinez and about 2,000 others who are working at SoFi without a contract, said it may strike ahead of the World Cup if ICE agents aren’t kept away from the stadium.

Last month Unite Here Local 11 filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging Legends Hospitality, which operates the premium food, beverage and retail services at SoFi; Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, owner of the stadium; and FIFA, organizer of the World Cup, with creating an unsafe work environment by refusing to restrict the presence of ICE officials at the eight World Cup games to be played in Inglewood.

“We are concerned about the safety of guests and workers,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11. “ICE has become more and more out of control and violent. We saw what happened in the killings in Minnesota. So I don’t think anyone is safe when ICE is around.”

A spokesperson for FIFA, organizer of the World Cup, declined to comment on the record about the union’s complaint and Legends Hospitality, did not immediately respond to repeated requests for comment. The union, meanwhile, joined Friday with faith and labor leaders and members of the Fair Games Coalition to press their point at a May Day rally outside the FIFA host committee offices in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s unclear what role, if any, federal authorities will play at the World Cup but Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, has said his agency will have a “key part” in security at tournament venues. And that ambiguous statement has raised alarms not just with workers but also with human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which issued a World Cup travel advisory for visitors planning on attending the tournament.

Petersen said the union, along with more than 100 human rights groups, has asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to make a direct request to President Trump for a moratorium on ICE raids in U.S. — especially at World Cup venues — during the 38-day tournament.

“FIFA could tell the Trump administration ‘keep ICE out of the games. We don’t need them to run a soccer tournament,’” Petersen said. “So that is the demand that we’re continuing to insist on. And if we don’t get that, then we’re prepared to do everything up to a strike heading into the World Cup.”

Amnesty International’s concerns are far broader than those of Petersen’s union. The group said it is worried about “the deteriorating human rights situation in the United States” and “the absence of meaningful action and concrete guarantees from FIFA, host cities, or the U.S. government” to address that.

Amy Fischer, director for refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, warned that “there is a real risk for people traveling to these games because of the aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that we’ve seen from this administration.”

“I think there is a high likelihood of some chaos. Because that is what this administration thrives off of and it’s what they love to create,” she added. “At Amnesty we are really hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.”

The travel advisory the group issued claims visitors may be arbitrarily denied entry to the country, detained in “inhumane” conditions or subjected to invasive phone and social media searches. It also cites aggressive immigration surges in cities including Los Angeles that led to accusations of racial profiling and the violent suppression of protests.

“We know at the games there will be immigrant fans, there will be immigrant workers,” Fischer said. “Nobody is safe in that environment with this lawless agency that is consistently violating the law and violating people’s human rights. It could make any game turn into a disaster.”

Anxiety is high among stadium workers, who are concerned about the threat of ICE detainment, regardless of their immigration status.

“We are asking FIFA to take care of this and now allow ICE to be present in the stadium,” Martinez said. “We’ve seen the violence isn’t limited to one particular group. The violence is widespread. People have been killed in Minneapolis, in Chicago even here in Los Angeles.

“We’ve seen everything that’s happened with ICE and that’s where the fear comes from for all of us.”

Karol G is taking her 2025 album, “Tropicoqueta,” worldwide.

After wrapping two bombastic headlining sets at Coachella this year, the Colombian superstar announced a stadium world tour on Instagram Tuesday morning.

The “Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour” will kick off July 24 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The “Provenza” artist will then head out to Las Vegas on Aug. 7 before making a stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Aug. 14. She’ll grace California with one more performance on Aug. 21 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The 35-year-old singer will wrap up the U.S. leg of her tour with a performance in Dallas on Oct. 15 before commencing the international section of the tour in Monterrey, Mexico, on Nov. 6. This string of shows is scheduled to finish exactly a year after commencing, with a July 24, 2027, set in Milan, Italy.

Karol G was the first Latina to headline Coachella in the desert fest’s 27-year history. She was only the second Latin music artist to get top billing at the event, with Bad Bunny being the first to ever do it with his 2023 headlining performances.

“This is for my Latinos that have been struggling in this country lately,” she told her fans during her history-making performance. “We stand for them. I stand for my Latina community. I am very proud because this brings out the best in us: unity, resilience and a strong spirit. We do this because we want everyone to feel welcome to our culture, so I want everyone to feel proud of where you come from.”

During her Coachella shows, which took place across two weekends in April, she brought out a cavalcade of guest performers — including L.A.’s own Becky G, the Colombian reggaeton revivalist J Balvin and Greg Gonzalez from Cigarettes After Sex.

The “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” artist first teased that she’d be embarking on a tour at the end of her set during the second weekend of Coachella. Text reading “Nos Vamos de Tour” (We’re going on tour) was displayed as she played her final song.

On the first night of Passover, Ye — the superstar rapper, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, the man who once threatened in a tweet to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” — performed for what looked like a full house at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.

The first of a pair of Ye concerts this week at the gigantic NFL palace, Wednesday’s show came two months after the 48-year-old musician apologized for his past antisemitic comments, attributing his behavior to injuries he sustained in a 2002 car crash.

More to the point, perhaps, the gig came on the heels of last week’s release of “Bully,” Ye’s first solo LP since 2022’s “Donda 2,” which the trade journal Hits predicts will enter the album chart at No. 2, right behind the latest from BTS.

In other words, Ye’s trying to get a comeback going — and, to judge by the very warm reception he got at SoFi, he might prove successful.

Wednesday’s concert — Ye’s first full live performance in Los Angeles since a 2021 gig at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum — lasted about two hours and featured guest appearances by Don Toliver and Ye’s 12-year-old daughter, North.

The rapper performed atop an enormous dome set up on the stadium’s floor; for much of the night, a spinning globe was projected onto the dome so that Ye looked to be — well, on top of the world is how he might’ve put it.

Early in the set, Ye asked his technical crew to “make the earth move slower,” which somebody made happen.

Accompanied by what sounded like prerecorded backing tracks, Ye opened with a handful of songs from “Bully,” which seeks a middle ground between the soulful, sample-heavy sound of his early work and the gloomier, synthed-up vibe of more recent records like “Donda” and his and Ty Dolla Sign’s “Vultures 1” and “Vultures 2.”

After an extended version of the new album’s “All the Love,” he reached back for an assortment of oldies, including all-timers like “Father, Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1,” “Mercy,” “Black Skinhead” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” which he stopped and restarted after telling the crew to mute the music during the song’s line about getting his money right so that he could hear the crowd join in.

He also did his and Jay-Z’s collaborative 2011 hit — the one whose title contains the N-word — which made you think about how he and his old frenemy are both mounting comebacks at the same time, Jay-Z as a kind of retiree’s victory lap and Ye in hopes of moving past a mess of his own making.

Other classics Ye performed included “Bound 2” and “Heartless,” to name two of his most emotionally potent songs, though thick smoke in the stadium made it hard to feel a sense of connection with him as he moved back and forth atop the dome.

Ye brought out Don Toliver to perform “Moon” and Toliver’s “E85,” then cycled again through the “Bully” tracks he’d done earlier. North West came out to perform “Talking” and “Piercing on My Hand,” after which Ye did his and Ty Dolla Sign’s “Everybody,” which prominently samples the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”

Then he finished with a sprint through some of his most beloved hits: “All Falls Down” into “Jesus Walks” into “Through the Wire” into “Good Life,” which he restarted several times because he said the lights were “corny.”

“Is this like an ‘SNL’ skit or something?” he asked when nobody made the changes he was looking for.

Ye ended the show with “All of the Lights,” which got a huge pryo display, and “Runaway,” his epic 2010 warning to anyone foolish enough to consider falling in love with him.

“Run away fast as you can,” he sang, and the crowd roared right along.

Comedians Jo Koy and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias are used to delivering big laughs on large stages. But in the world of major L.A. venues, there’s big, there’s massive, and then there’s SoFi Stadium.

The show starring both comedians was billed as a record-breaking feat for stand-up when they sold out the 70,000-seater. Though the pressure to fill up the stadium was off, it still remained to be seen how the two comics would make their most dedicated fans laugh from more than a football field away. By that criteria, Saturday night was definitely a win.

Kicking off the early portion of the show at 7 p.m., fans were already filling the seats as opening acts from Iglesias’ camp, including Matt Golightly, Joey Guila, Alfred Robles, Martin Moreno (who celebrated his 58th birthday on stage) and ventriloquist funnyman Jeff Dunham got the crowd warmed up for about an hour before Iglesias took the stage first.

Comedians Jo Koy and Fluffy perform Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

It was almost 8 p.m. when Iglesias emerged following a video skit playing on the jumbo screens and the stadium’s massive halo scoreboard with his funny misadventures of a routine doughnut run at Randy’s Donuts that turned into the plot of “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff “Mayans M.C.” featuring lead actors Emilio Rivera, a.k.a. Miguel Golindo, and Clayton Cardenas, known for playing Angel Reyes. Reyes caused the first major eruption of noise in the crowd by pressing a detonation device that triggered columns of smoke that filled the stage as Fluffy made his entrance in a white flat cap and custom Los Angeles button-up to greet the sold-out stadium.

“Thank you for being here, all I have to say is we did it!” Iglesias proclaimed as the crowd cheered.

Pointing and waving to fans in the nosebleeds, he took time to embrace the moment that topped his previous triumph of performing at Dodger Stadium.

Fluffy takes the stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Though the stage couldn’t have been bigger, both comedians used their ability to make a large event feel intimate by drawing the crowd in through storytelling and making them feel like they were part of a conversation. Iglesias set the tone of his set right away by telling us about the chisme (a.k.a. salacious gossip) surrounding his newly married stepson that weaved into stories about his travels all over the world including his controversial stop at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.

Iglesias also took a pause to relate one other historic fact about the two stadiums in L.A. he’s now been able to sell out.

Santino Villalovos of Tracy, Calif., shows his Fluffy tattoo during the Jo Koy and Fluffy show at SoFi Stadium.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“The two biggest shows in comedy were Dodger Stadium and SoFi Stadium. … And what did they both have in common? They both featured a Mexican,” he said.

Even though he thought about retiring as a comedian after filling up Dodger Stadium (twice) to film his special “Stadium Fluffy,” Iglesias said the SoFi show inspired him to keep pushing himself. And alongside Koy he knew they could do it.

Fans react to special guest Jamie Foxx during Jo Koy’s performance at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“Jo I know you’re in the back, thank you for trusting me man, we did it brother. And I’ll say it in front of an entire stadium, love you. Things like this for me is a huge deal because it inspired me and gave me another reason to keep doing what I love to do. And tomorrow I’m gonna be in the same situation I was after Dodger Stadium — what am I gonna do now? But until then I’m enjoy the hell outta tonight and I still have more stories to share with you.”

Fluffy’s most controversial (and true) bit of the night was breaking the news to his fans that his name is mentioned in the Epstein files, which sent collective shock through the stands.

“I’ve never been to the island, I’ve never been on the plane and I have never met Jeffrey Epstein,” he clarified.

Fans light up SoFi Stadium during Fluffy’s set on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The comedian said that according to reports in the Epstein files, the late convicted pedophile apparently tried to buy tickets to his show at an Improv in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2014 but was told by his assistant via email that both his shows were sold out.

“Jeffrey Epstein, one of the most diabolical human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. Had the ability to connect with politicians, with influencers, with celebrities. He put people in very compromising positions. He got people on planes. He put people on islands. He was involved in trafficking. He was able to accomplish all these evil, crazy things, but at the end of the day, he still couldn’t get tickets to see my show,” Iglesias said.

Jo Koy reveals himself with the Jabbawockeez at SoFi Stadium.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

After a brief intermission, things transitioned to Jo Koy’s portion of the show featuring warm-up sets from TikTok skitmaster King Bach and longtime friend and stand-up star Tiffany Haddish, who came to the stage looking ready for the red carpet with a flowing silk dress, hair blowing in the man-made wind to deliver her brand of high-energy stories about becoming a real estate tycoon in South-Central.

When it was Koy’s turn to enter the stadium, he slipped in undercover, dressed as one of the Jabbawockeez — the legendary masked hip-hop dance troupe that danced onstage to a medley of West Coast hip-hop dressed in red with acrobatic swagger. At the end of a brief routine, Koy unmasked himself as one of the dancers, eliciting cheers from the crowd as his son helped him change onstage into his regular attire, Dodgers hat and a jean jacket.

Jo Koy performs at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Always a man of the people, his set also reminded us that he’s also a man of the pets, specifically dogs, launching into a long bit that felt worthy of a slightly more adult version of a Pixar movie. But beyond jokes and stories, Koy kept coming back to the idea that laughter, more than fame, marketing or money, is what helped the comedians’ big plans for SoFi come together.

“This place is full, all the way to the top, people laughing and having a good time. I know there’s a lotta s— going happening in the world right now but guess what, we don’t wanna hear it right now. We came to have a good f— time. I’m not here to debate s—, everybody’s in here, everything they said wasn’t supposed to happen happened. Look around, every f— color of the rainbow is in SoFi Stadium tonight.”

Jamie Foxx, left, sings with Jo Koy at SoFi Stadium.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The vibe of the set was all about escaping the problems of everyday life. For most of the night that was taken care of by comedy. And sometimes that escapism was aided by the power of R&B. Twice during the night Koy shocked the crowd with special guest sing-alongs, first with Babyface coming out to serenade the crowd with a brief yet un-relenting hit fest he wrote and/or sang including “Can We Talk,” the ‘90s hit he wrote for Tevin Campbell, and the Boyz II Men anthems “I’ll Make Love to You” and “End of the Road.”

The second surprise came courtesy of Jamie Foxx, who popped out in shades and 10-gallon hat to sing the Ray Charles homage-driven hook of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”

Aside from any historic accolades, Saturday night was the culmination of a show that was a year in the making and a victory lap for the careers of two comics who’ve been in the game for decades. It was also a moment where comedy’s past met its stadium-size future in the L.A. comedy world. Though it’s hard to say when the next big comedian will have enough fans to fill a stadium in L.A., Saturday didn’t feel like it was the last time comedy fans will show up to fill SoFi for a pair of comedians who put in the work to make themselves a team worth rooting for.