Kanye “Ye” West may not be able to visit his new bride’s family anytime soon.
A senior Australian government minister said the embattled rapper could be refused a visa if he attempts to visit Down Under, thanks to his repeated antisemitic comments.
The comments by Education Minister Jason Clare came in response to reports that Ye plans to travel to Melbourne next week to visit his new wife Bianca Censori’s family, The Associated Press reported.
Ye married Censori in Beverly Hills earlier this month, just two months after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized and weeks after he released a song called “Censori Overload.”
An architectural designer for West’s company Yeezy since 2020, Censori earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Melbourne in 2017 and a masters degree there in 2020.
Censori’s sister, Angelica Censori reportedly told the Melbourne Herald Sun she was happy for her sibling. “It’s very exciting news for both my sister and the family, but we choose to have some privacy for the time being,” Angelica said.
Clare was unaware if Ye had yet applied for a visa, but said that Australia has previously refused them to people with antisemitic 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, Clare told CNN affiliate Nine News.
Australia’s Migration Act sets security and character requirements for non-citizens to enter the country, the AP reported. The news service said Peter Wertheim, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, met with government officials on Tuesday to argue for an entry ban.
Any decision on whether Ye gets an Australian visa would be made by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, whose office would not comment.
Last year, Australia famously refused a visa for tennis star Novak Djokovic to play in the Australian Open on the basis of his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
West has been under fire for months after he repeatedly made antisemitic comments across multiple platforms, including an infamous tweet in which he threatened to go “Death Con 3 on Jewish People” that had him temporarily banned on Twitter.
In December, he told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones he saw “good things about Hitler” during an interview on Infowars alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Twitter again suspended Ye after he tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David, and he was suspended from Clubhouse after spewing antisemitic remarks during a private online event in mid-December.
His billion-dollar fashion business also suffered major blows as Adidas, the Gap, Balenciaga and Foot Locker backed out of deals with his brand. JPMorgan Chase also severed ties with the rapper and his Yeezy brand, the studio MRC scrapped a completed documentary and talent agency CAA cut him off.
Ye announced in November that he is running for president in 2024. During his now notorious Thanksgiving visit to Mar-a-Lago with Fuentes, Ye said he asked former president Donald Trump to be his running mate.
