Australia revoked Ye’s entry visa over his “Heil Hitler” song, immigration minister reveals

Ye, the American rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been barred from entering Australia because of his pro-Nazi song “Heil Hitler,” the country’s immigration minister told Australia’s ABC television network on Tuesday.

The song, which was first released in May, has been banned in Germany and from online platforms including Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music because of its antisemitism lyrics praising Adolf Hitler. The song repeats the slogan hailing the Nazi German leader and includes a direct sample from a speech Hitler gave in 1935.

Speaking to ABC, Immigration Minister Tony Burke revealed the ban on Ye while discussing the reported cancellation of a visa for Israeli-American tech personality Hillel Fuld, over a comment he posted declaring: “Islamophobia is rational.” 

Burke said the Australian government’s decision to cancel foreign nationals’ visas were most often made for people seeking to make “public speeches,” before adding: “The only one I can think of where it wasn’t for public advocacy – the visa – but we cancelled it anyway, would be Kanye West.”

Ye, who is married to Australian Bianca Censori, had been visiting the country “for a long time,” Burke said.

“He’s made a lot of offensive comments,” added the immigration minister, “that my officials looked at again once he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.”

“If you’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don’t need that in Australia,” said Burke. “We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”

Asked if the ban was “sustainable” given Ye’s global popularity, Burke replied: “I think that what’s not sustainable is to import hatred.”

He said the government had not banned Ye from entering Australia permanently, noting that “every visa application gets reassessed by my officials each time.”

Ye’s history of antisemitism

CBS News received no immediate response to a request for comment from Ye that was submitted via his fashion brand, Yeezy, or from Australia’s home affairs department when asked about the ban. 

A spokesperson for the ministry told The Guardian Australia newspaper, however, that the “government will continue to act decisively to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by individuals who choose to engage in criminal activity or behavior of concern, including visa cancelation or refusal where appropriate.”

Ye has a years-long history of making antisemitic remarks. In 2022, his X and Instagram accounts were suspended for antisemitic posts. Later that year he told Alex Jones: “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis… I do love Hitler.”

In 2023, after Ye’s marriage to Censori, the Australian Jewish Association called for Ye to be denied entry to the country. 

In February 2025, Ye again had his X again suspended over a series of antisemitic posts that he defended as a “social experiment.” 

One post published during the last Super Bowl declared: “I AM A NAZI.” 

Ye also paid for an ad during the Super Bowl, in which he directed people to visit his clothing brand’s website, where he was selling t-shirts emblazoned with the swastika, the symbol of the Nazi Party, for $20.