Rapper Kanye West, who has changed his name to Ye, may struggle to get a visa to enter Australia because of his history of anti-semitic remarks, a government minister said on Wednesday, as reported by ABC News. This comes at a time when Australian media reported that Ye is planning to travel to Melbourne to meet the family of his new Australian partner, Bianca Censori. The rapper has faced a lot of backlash over his comments, and many big brands like Adidas have ended tie-ups with him over his anti-semitic remarks.
"People like that who've applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected. I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did," Minister for Education Jason Clare told Nine News.
There has been no response from Ye or his spokesperson so far.
Australia has in the past refused or revoked visas for far-right figures for failing the "good character" test, according to CNN. Among them was David Icke whose visa was revoked in 2019.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, immigration minister under a previous government, said on Tuesday that he would be inclined to ban Ye but that it was a decision for the government.
"His anti-Semitic comments are disgraceful, his conduct and his behaviour are appalling," he told 3AW radio. "He's not a person of good character and the minister has the ability to stop somebody coming into our country of bad character."
Last year, Ye had praised Hitler during an interview with Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist, as per ABC News.
"I like Hitler," he told Jones, later adding he saw "good things about Hitler". "I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."
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