Australia cancels Kanye ‘Ye' West's visa over Hitler song
The country's home affairs minister Tony Burke confirmed the news that Ye would be blocked from entering the country over the track that glorifies the Nazi leader.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Burke said: "If someone argued that anti-Semitism was rational, I would not let them come here.'
With regards to Ye, Burke added: '[West] has been coming to Australia for a long time… and he's made a lot of offensive comments. But my officials looked at it again once he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia."
When asked if any visa ban would be sustainable, Burke said: "I think that what's not sustainable is to import hatred... We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry."
The rapper's song, released on 8 May - coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat - has been widely condemned and banned on most music streaming platforms.
Ye has previously identified as a Nazi and his anti-Semitic comments have been numerous over the years. This year alone, he made a shocking string of antisemitic posts, which included comments like 'I love Hitler' and 'I'm a Nazi.'
He has also come under fire for selling a white t-shirt with a large swastika emblem on the chest – an item listed as 'HH-01' on his website, a reference to the 'Heil Hitler' chant.
Following the online rampage and the posting of a KKK photo, he was dropped by his talent agency.
Ye has been married to Australian designer Bianca Censori since 2022, and this is not the first time Australia has considered blocking the artist.
In 2023, Australia's education minister Jason Clare condemned West's "awful" comments on the Holocaust, suggesting that he could be denied entry. Clare has called Ye's lyrics and interviews 'deeply disturbing' and incompatible with Australian values.
Ye has yet to release a statement regarding this visa cancellation, but Australian immigration officials have confirmed that any future applications for a visa made by him would be assessed under the same strict criteria.
Last month, we reported that growing backlash was mounting in Bratislava after the announcement that Ye was set to headline the Slovakian capital's upcoming Rubicon festival.
A petition urging the mayor to cancel his appearance describes the booking as 'an insult to historic memory, a glorification of wartime violence and debasement of all victims of the Nazi regime'.
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