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Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was forced to defend the move, after the visa cancellation was made following the most recent controversial incident, with the artist still in possession of a valid visa when the song was dropped.
“My department looked at it once more after he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa to be in Australia,” Burke said in an interview recently.
West, who is married to Australian designer Bianca Censori, has visited Australia numerous times in the past. But this is decidedly different than how the country has treated his presence after the antisemitic remarks, made more than once, and publicly saying he supports Nazi ideology.
Widespread Backlash Over Anti-Semitic Lyrics
The music video for Heil Hitler, uploaded on 8 May, shows men in animal skins chanting the song’s title. The song is on West’s recently released album WW3, which has numerous tracks with explicit lyrics. The video no longer appears on platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
After an outpouring of criticism, West put out a new version of the song called Hallelujah that drops references to Nazism and instead name-checks Christianity. However, fears about his beliefs remain very much in the public mind.
After the reconfigured release, the rapper, who has in the past called himself a Nazi and rescinded an apology for his anti-Semitic remarks, said he was “done with anti-Semitism.” Still, the question of his reputation remains.
Ongoing Concerns and Previous Warnings
Minister Burke said in this quote that every visa application is evaluated according to Australian law and West could reapply but there was no guarantee he would be allowed in. “What I don’t think is sustainable is to import hatred,” Burke said. “We have enough problems in this country as it is, without importing bigotry.”
But it’s not the first time West has come up against resistance in Australia. In 2023, Education Minister Jason Clare had similarly lambasted his prior remarks complimenting Hitler and the Holocaust and suggested he was not welcome.
West has also had his businesses affected by his controversies. In 2022, Adidas dropped him due to his anti-Semitic comments. In late 2023, a settlement between the two parties to end the legal stoush was reached.
More than 3,000 people reported viewing the film in just the first few hours after its release — and while it generated millions of views while it was up, Heil Hitler has managed to further stoke a debate about just where we draw the line when it comes to artistic expression and hate speech in this new era of rapid online transmission between countries.
