Over the past few days a dispute has been brewing between the City of Philadelphia and the organizers of the Made in America Festival. The festival is organized by Jay- Z’s Roc Nation and Live Nation and has been held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway annually over Labor Day Weekend since 2012.

The dispute started when the City of Philadelphia announced that the festival wouldn’t be returning to the parkway and that a new, but undetermined, location within the city would be home to the festival in the future.

Organizers claimed they were blindsided by the decision and hadn’t been consulted. This culminated with Jay-Z blasting Mayor Kenney in an opinion piece published on Philly.com. Kenney later held a press conference and said that he loves Jay-Z, but the festival takes too long to set-up and adversely impacts the neighborhood.

Now Conshohocken-based entrepreneur, and Lafayette Hill native, Michael Rubin is getting involved. From Philly.com:

According to two sources familiar with the discussions, Kenney will meet with Roc Nation chief operating officer Desiree Perez and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin. The meeting could include other participants, but their names had not been confirmed Friday, one source said. Rubin is a close friend of the Philly rapper Meek Mill, one of the headliners for this year’s festival on Sept. 1 and 2.

Rubin owns Kynetic on Conshohocken’s riverfront, which is the parent company of Fanatics, ShopRunner and Rue La La. Earlier this year Rubin famously picked up Meek Mill upon his release from prison in his helicopter and flew him to a Sixers’ game. Through his friendship with Meek Mill, Rubin become active in the campaign for criminal justice reform.

What Rubin’s role would be in the festival’s potential return to the parkway is not yet known.

More to come.

Disclosure – Rubin is an investor in Burb Media, LLC, the publisher of MoreThanTheCurve.com. 

Photo: Twitter