Heil Hitler song gets Kanye kicked out of Australia in unprecedented visa backlash

Rapper Kanye West has been denied entry into Australia after the release of his latest track Heil Hitler, which includes antisemitic content and Nazi references, Immigration Minister Tony Burke has confirmed.

West, who now goes by the name Ye, had a valid visitor visa canceled by the Department of Home Affairs.

Heil Hitler

The decision followed internal reviews triggered by the song’s release, which includes lyrics praising Adolf Hitler and samples from a 1935 Nazi speech.

Released in May on Victory in Europe Day, Heil Hitler was quickly pulled from major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube for violating hate speech policies. Despite bans, the track went viral on the social media site X, garnering over 10 million views.

"He's made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released that song," Minister Burke told ABC's Afternoon Briefing on Tuesday(July 1). "If you're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia."

The rapper was reportedly planning a private visit to Australia, where his wife, Bianca Censori, is originally from. Officials confirmed it was not a concert or advocacy tour. Despite the personal nature of the trip, Burke said the government found Ye’s actions incompatible with Australian values.

“It wasn’t a visa for the purpose of concerts. It was a lower-level [visa], and the officials still looked at the law and said if you’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don’t need that in Australia,” Burke stated.

The visa cancellation comes amid broader scrutiny of public figures promoting hate speech. Burke drew a comparison with Israeli-American tech activist Hillel Fuld, who was also recently in the spotlight after reportedly being denied a speaking visa due to Islamophobic remarks.

“If someone argued that antisemitism was rational, I would not let them come here on a speaking tour,” Burke said. “And if someone has the same view of Islamophobia, I don’t want them here when the purpose of the visa is to give public speeches.”

The minister added that while the immigration system reassesses each visa application individually, Ye’s case was unique. “The only one I can think of where it wasn’t for public advocacy, but even for the lowest level of visa, when my officials looked at it, they canceled that following the announcement of that song.”

He emphasized, “We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”