Photo Credit:Robyn Beck / AFP
American rapper Kanye West has been barred from entering Australia due to a song glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Australian Home Affairs Minister TonyBurke confirmed that West's visa was cancelled following the release of the song "Heil Hitler" in early May. The song has been widely condemned and banned on many platforms.
The highly controversial rapper, also known as Ye, identifies as a Nazi and is known for his anti-Semitic comments. He is married to Australian designer Bianca Censori. Mr Burke revealed the visa cancellation in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, during a discussion about the visa cancellation of another person over their Islamophobic comments.
If someone argued that anti-Semitism was rational, I would not let them come here, Mr Burke said, while bringing up West's case. 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. It is not clear if West has been permanently banned from Australia. Mr Burke said that visa applications would be reassessed each time they are made, in accordance with Australian law. It is not the first time Australia considered blocking West. In 2023, Australia'seducation minister Jason Clare had also condemned West's awful comments on Hitler and the Holocaust, and suggested he could be denied entry.
Amid the current backlash, Heil Hitler raked up millions of views within a day of its release in May. The song is part of the Grammy-winning artist's new album WW3, which also contains other tracks with controversial lyrics. The music video for Heil Hitler, released on 8 May, shows a group of men wearing animal skins and chanting the
song's title. It has been banned on streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. But shortly after its release, West said he was done with anti-Semitism and released a new version of Heil Hitler - titled Hallelujah. The new song replaced earlier references to Nazism with lyrics relating to Christianity.