Yesterday, Immigration Minister Tony Burke lay a clear line in the sand: Kanye West (now Ye) isn’t welcome on Australian soil.
The ban of Ye’s tourism visa stemmed from the release of his new single ‘Heil Hitler’ in May, with the music video depicting a group of men wearing animal skins and chanting the song’s title. It was swiftly banned on streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
It’s not the first time that Ye’s antisemitism has been on full display. Earlier this year, he declared himself a Nazi and retracted an apology for earlier comments. On social platform X, he referenced Elon Musk’s shocking one-armed salute at the US presidential inauguration, writing that the Tesla CEO stole his “Nazi swag.”
West also called antisemitism “just some bulls— Jewish people made up.”
In 2022, Adidas announced it had terminated its relationship with West over his antisemitism.
When probed by The ABC about his decision to stop Ye from entering Australia, Burke said that “if someone argued that anti-Semitism was rational, I would not let them come here.
“[West] has been coming to Australia for a long time… and he’s made a lot of offensive comments.
“But my officials looked at it again once he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia”, he said.
When asked if the ban on West would be sustainable, Burke added: “I think that what’s not sustainable is to import hatred… We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”
And yet, it appears that the importation of certain hatred is still deemed A-OK by the government.
Because Ye’s pattern of abuse isn’t just antisemitic, it’s misogynistic. And that misogyny is well-documented over multiple years and in various, often unthinkable, ways.
A former Yeezy employee recently filed a lawsuit citing Ye’s repeated references to Hitler, as well as sexist, violent and degrading language toward women.
West allegedly insulted the young woman, calling her a “heartless sociopath,” comparing her to an OnlyFans model, and telling her, “Shut the f— up bitch.”
In 2016, he tweeted, “BILL COSBY INNOCENT!!!!!!!!!!” following the courageous testimonial of many of Cosby’s victims and after 37 allegations of rape. In 2018 Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Then there was Ye’s abuse of ex wife Kim Kardashian, which was public and prolonged. He stalked her online, publicly threatened her partners (including a disturbing music video depicting him killing Pete Davidson), and used his platform to shame and intimidate her after their separation.
He exploited their children in the aftermath, featuring his oldest daughter North West within his newest album with Sean Combs’ son, King Combs, and a track entitled “Diddy Free”.
And let’s not forget the twisted stomach feeling we all get watching Ye’s marriage to Australian designer Bianca Censori unfold. Her friends have voiced serious concerns about their relationship and the degrading way Ye treats her.
Ye’s former girlfriend Julia Fox who was also styled in controversial costumes by the rapper, has said she felt treated like a “pawn” and a “show monkey” during their relationship.
None of these points are made to to dismiss the toxicity or malignancy of Ye’s antisemitism, but merely to highlight that misogyny and the abuse of women, are all too quickly boxed into something else– something that socially and culturally, we simply don’t take as seriously.
Racism and antisemitism spark official condemnation (as they should) because they are rightly seen as public threats to safety and community cohesion. Misogyny, however, is too often viewed as “relationship issues,” “family matters,” or even worse “celebrity gossip.”
This is despite the fact that gender-based violence kills one woman a week in Australia, and that coercive control and stalking are escalating national issues.
So while the government’s decision to ban Ye’s visa is highly warranted, it does beg the question: why do allegations of abuse against women take a back seat? Because misogyny is a form of extremism and it has no place here either.