Kanye West could be denied entry to Australia due to his vocal anti-Semitic views, a politican has claimed.
When asked to respond to reports that the 45-year-old rapper intends to visit the family of his reported new partner Bianca Censori in Melbourne next week, Australian education minister Jason Clare said that West could be denied a visa.
Mr Clare said he did not know if West - who changed his name to “Ye” in 2021 - had applied for a visa, but added that Australia has previously refused them to people with anti-Semitic views.
“I expect that if he does apply, he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions as others who’ve aired such views”, the minister explained to Nine Network television on Wednesday.
The Standard has contacted a representative for Kanye West for comment.
West caused outrage last year when he made several anti-Semitic remarks with brands such as Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga, Peloton, Apple Music and Foot Locker deciding to sever ties with him as a result.
The Stronger hitmaker’s comments, which included saying he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people”, also led to his Twitter and Instagram accounts being restricted.
Death Con 3 was a reference to the heightened US military alert level DEFCON 3.
Despite the backlash, he told Piers Morgan in October that he is “absolutely not” sorry for anti-Semitic remarks he made on social media, but apologised for the hurt his comments caused.