US rapper Kanye West may not be permitted to enter Australia due to his extreme antisemitic comments, a senior Australian government official told the local Channel Nine on Wednesday.
Australian Education Minister Jason Clare said that people who have made comments like West's - including praise for Hitler and theorizing that Jews control the music industry - have been denied visas to Australia in the past.
West recently married Bianca Censori, an Australian native who joined West's company "Yeezy" as an architectural designer in 2020. Recent reports have stated that he plans to travel to Australia soon to meet his wife's family.
"I don’t know if he’s applied for a visa yet, but Google it, you will see that he seems like he’s a pretty big fan of a person who killed six million Jewish people last century," Clare told a morning talk show in Australia. "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."
Clare's comments came mere days after the Anti-Defamation Commission's chairman, Dr. Dvir Abramovich, called on Australia to block West from entering the country.
ADC: Block Kanye West from entering Australia
"Calling for violence and hate must have consequences, and Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger who spews threats against the Jewish community and peddles conspiracy myths about Jewish power, greed and control," he said at the time.
Several Jewish organizations have since spoken up and called on Australia to block West from entering the country.
West was named "Antisemite of the year" of 2022 by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism just a few weeks ago after he has called for violence against Jews, expressed support for Hitler publicly, and several other controversial comments.