Kanye West may be denied entry to Australia over antisemitic remarks

Ye may not be welcome down under thanks to his antisemitic remarks.

Australian Education Minister Jason Clare has told Nine Network television that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, could be denied a visa if he attempts to visit the country due to his antisemitic comments, according to The Associated Press.

Clare reportedly noted that the Australian government has denied visas to people who harbor antisemitic views in the past and said that if Ye "does apply, he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions" as them.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

This could be an issue for Ye because his current partner, Bianca Censori, is from Australia, and recent reports claimed he planned to travel to Melbourne to visit her family. These reports led Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, to call for him to be denied entry.

"Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger who spews threats against the Jewish community and peddles conspiracy myths about Jewish power, greed and control," Abramovich said, per the Daily Mail.

Peter Wertheim, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive officer, also told Sky News that he met with Australian officials to argue for denying Ye entry, making "the case that this particular individual does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa."

Ye made a series of shocking antisemitic statements in the fall, culminating in him professing his admiration of Adolf Hitler, that led multiple businesses to cut ties with him. The rapper recently had a wedding ceremony with Censori, but they reportedly did not obtain a marriage certificate.