Canberra, Australia – A senior Australian government minister said Wednesday that rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, may be denied a visa for antisemitic remarks if he attempts to visit Australia.
Education Secretary Jason Clare was responding to media reports that the American superstar plans to visit the family of new Australian partner Bianca Sensori in Melbourne next week.
Clare said he did not know whether Yi had applied for a visa but that Australia had previously refused to grant it to those with anti-Semitic views.
“I would expect that if he did apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions” as others who have aired such views, Claire told Nine Network TV.
Last month, Yi praised Hitler in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Twitter later suspended Ye after he tweeted a photo of a swastika fused with the Star of David.
Australian immigration law sets out security and identity requirements for non-citizens to enter the country. Any decision on Yi obtaining an Australian visa will be made by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, whose office said he could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons.
Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met government officials on Tuesday to call for the entry ban.
“We had a sympathetic hearing,” Wertheim said via Sky News. “We have made it clear that this particular person does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant them a visa and we have laid out our reasons in some detail.”
SEE MORE: Police say man yells “Kanye 2024” during an antisemitic attack in New York’s Central Park.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said that if he were in government, he would be tempted to block Yi for reasons of personality.
“I’m inclined not to let him in,” Dutton told Melbourne radio 3AW on Tuesday.
Dutton added, “His anti-Semitic comments are disgraceful, his behavior and demeanor are appalling, and he is not a person of good character.”
Ye and Sensory plan to visit her family who live in the north-east Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe next week, Seven Network News reports.
Yi and Sensory recently married less than two months after finalizing his divorce from Kim Kardashian, entertainment news outlet TMZ reported two weeks ago.
The AP asked Yi’s representative if he was married to Sensory and planned to visit Melbourne, but did not get an immediate response.
Copyright © 2023 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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