MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥 Ye, the U.S. rapper formerly known as , was recently stripped of an Australian visa after he released his single 鈥淗eil Hitler,鈥 a government minister said on Wednesday.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed Ye has been traveling for years to Australia, where his wife of three years, , was born. Her family live in Melbourne.
Burke said 鈥淗eil Hitler,鈥 released in May, promoted Nazism. The song has been criticized as an antisemitic tribute to German dictator Adolf Hitler.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been coming to Australia for a long time. He鈥檚 got family here. And he鈥檚 made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released the 鈥橦eil Hitler鈥 song and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia,鈥 Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
鈥淲e have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry,鈥 Burke added.
Ye鈥檚 representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Australia鈥檚 Migration Act sets security and character requirements for non-citizens to enter the country.
Australia鈥檚 largest cities, Sydney and , have seen a spate of antisemitic attacks since the war between Israel and began on Oct. 7, 2023.
Rod Mcguirk, The Associated Press