Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, could be denied an Australian visa due to his antisemitic comments, an Australian government minister said Wednesday.
Ye has made headlines for his many antisemitic comments. Most recently the rapper came under fire for stating “I like Hitler” in an interview with Alex Jones, the Deseret News previously reported.
Will Kanye West be banned from Australia?
Ye is reportedly planning on traveling to Melbourne to visit the family of his new partner, Bianca Censori, next week, leading officials to speak out against the rapper, stating he could be denied a visa if he applied.
“People like that who’ve applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected,” said Jason Clare, Australia’s education minister, according to CNN.
“I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did.”
Meanwhile, Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with officials on Tuesday to argue for an entry ban against Ye, Sky News reported.
“We had a sympathetic hearing,” Wertheim stated. “We’ve made 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 and we set out our reasons in some detail.”
Who else has been denied entry to Australia?
CNN reported that other high-profile figures on the far right have been denied visas for failing Australia’s “good character” test.
In 2018, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes had his visa denied, and in 2019 conspiracy theorist David Icke had his visa revoked.