Kanye West has been banned from entering Australia over one of his songs
Topics: Kanye West, Australia, Music, News, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Matt Winkelmeyer
Topics: Kanye West, Australia, Music, News, Celebrity
Kanye West has been banned from entering Australia over one particular song from his catalogue, home affairs minister Tony Burke has announced.
The controversial rapper, who likes to be known as Ye these days, has had his visa cancelled after the release of the track back in May.
In 2022, West said he admired Adolf Hitler before later identifying as a Nazi, while a subsequent rant on Twitter saw the rapper make antisemitic comments and praise Hitler.
And now, West has been barred from Australia due to his song 'Heil Hitler', a track that forms part of West's new album WW3 - which contains a ton of other controversial tunes.
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The song has been banned on the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, which lead to West admitting he was 'done with anti-Semitism'.
'Heil Hitler' was ultimately renamed to 'Hallelujah', with the latest song replacing references to Nazism with lyrics relating to Christianity.
Despite that, the Aussie Home Office has banned West from entering Australia and the rapper's visa has been revoked, with the singer frequently visiting the country due to the fact his wife's family live there.
Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing he would not let anyone who has said that either Islamophobia or antisemitism was 'rational' into Australia.
He added: "Most of the visas that have been cancelled under this section have been where someone was seeking to make a public speech.
"The only one I can think of where it wasn’t for public advocacy – the visa – but we cancelled it anyway, would be Kanye West."
Burke did not comment on whether West had been banned indefinitely, as he added: "Every visa application gets reassessed by my officials each time.
"I’m not taking away the way the act operates but even for the lowest level of visa, when my officials looked at it, they cancelled that following the announcement of that song."
Burke has also been speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp, where he provided more context to the situation.
"He’s been coming to Australia for a long time," Burke added. "He’s got family here. And he’s made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released the 'Heil Hitler' song and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.
"We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry."
A spokesperson for the home affairs department told the Guardian the Australian government will continue 'to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by individuals who choose to engage in criminal activity or behaviour of concern'.
If you are the victim of an antisemitic incident or you have information regarding an antisemitic incident that happened to somebody else, contact the Stand With Us Number on 310 836 6140. In an emergency, always call 911.