Ye banned from Australia for antisemitic song: Reports
The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, had his visa revoked over the song, which celebrates the German chancellor who oversaw the killing of millions of Jews, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed to the Associated Press and BBC. Ye's wife, Bianca Censori, was born in Australia.
"He's been coming to Australia for a long time. He's got family here," Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Company. "He's made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released the (antisemitic song), and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.
"We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry," he added.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Burke and Ye for comment.
The song, which has been banned on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, was widely regarded as antisemitic at its release. The composition, a drum-heavy march overlayed with his own professions of Nazism, samples a 1935 Adolf Hitler speech.
The track was just the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents surrounding Ye. The rapper has been accused of a pattern of bigotry against Jews as far back as 2018. Former employees allege he often used antisemitic language in the workplace, espoused conspiracy theories and praised Hitler, and Adidas dropped Ye from his Yeezy partnership with the brand after an antisemitic tirade in 2022.
In recent years, Ye's antisemitic rhetoric has spilled over into the public square, with the rapper baking anti-Jewish sentiment into his music and unleashing hateful tirades on social media. His views appear to flip-flop violently, sometimes strongly anti-Jewish, other times reneging on past antisemitic statements.
That pattern may concern Burke in particular, as Australia has suffered a series of recent attacks motivated by antisemitism. Since late 2024, a synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, several Jewish businesses were torched and a Jewish daycare was set on fire. These, along with other attacks, were concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, the cities that house the lion's share of the country's Jewish population.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
20 minutes ago
- The Hill
Zelensky warns Trump ‘Putin is bluffing' ahead of Alaska summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday sent a warning to President Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'bluffing' about being open to peace, ahead of a high-stakes summit between the U.S. and Russian leaders in Alaska set for Friday. Zelensky made his remarks alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in remarks following a video conference call with Trump and other European leaders. They said the call was aimed at setting 'the course for this meeting in the right way.' Trump has floated 'land swaps' between Russia and Ukraine as a path to peace, a possibility that Zelensky has resisted, drawing the U.S. president's ire. 'I stress that any questions concerning our country's territorial integrity cannot be discussed without regard for our people, for the will of our people and the Ukrainian constitution,' Zelensky said Wednesday. Merz said Ukraine is willing to discuss territorial questions, but only if a ceasefire is implemented on the current frontline, throwing cold water on reported Russian demands for Ukrainian withdrawals as a condition to halt the fighting. The two leaders spoke to reporters in Berlin. A translation of their remarks was provided by Sky News. Zelensky said he told Trump to expect Putin to downplay the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy and its military as a way to deter additional penalties. Trump has held off imposing additional sanctions on Russia and blew past a deadline last week to impose sanctions, instead announcing the face-to-face with Putin. 'In reality, the sanctions are very effective, and they're hurting the Russian military economy,' Zelensky said. Merz said that Zelensky and European leaders made 'clear' to Trump that a ceasefire along the current frontlines 'needs to be the starting point' for broader peace talks. Merz said there will be no discussion of legal recognition of Russian-occupied territory, rejecting another major pillar of Moscow's demands. Russia occupies an estimated 20 percent of Ukrainian territory but lays claim to four areas it only partially controls. Putin is reportedly calling for Ukraine to retreat from territory in the Donbas region that is not occupied by Russia. Zelensky said the leaders 'briefly talked about' security guarantees for Ukraine and emphasized that Russia should not be given a veto to block Ukraine from joining NATO, another red line for Moscow. Merz added that Trump 'largely' shares these positions. 'So if in Alaska there's no movement on the Russian side, then the US and the Europeans need to increase the pressure. President Trump knows this position. He shares them largely so I can say we've had a very good, constructive talk,' he said.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jamie Lee Curtis Makes Cryptic Statement Following CBS 'Late Show' Cancellation
Jamie Lee Curtis Makes Cryptic Statement Following CBS 'Late Show' Cancellation originally appeared on Parade. isn't holding back her feelings about the recent cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. After it was announced that CBS would be cancelling the long-running program earlier this week, Curtis was asked to give her two cents on the situation while attending a red carpet event on Thursday, July 17—and it's safe to say she didn't mince any words. 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 While speaking to reporters for the Associated Press at the Culture Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the Freakier Friday actress shared a very blatant assessment of the situation, stating simply, "It's bad." "He's a great, great guy," she added of Colbert, who has been hosting the late-night program since 2015. Curtis went on to criticize the recently-passed bill to roll back funding for funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. "They're trying to silence people," Curtis cryptically declared, before predicting, "that won't work." "It won't work. We will just get louder," she added with a smile. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will officially come to an end in May Lee Curtis Makes Cryptic Statement Following CBS 'Late Show' Cancellation first appeared on Parade on Jul 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Dems finally lacing up their gloves, settle on midterm strategy?
Most people are soaking up the last days of summer — barbecues, beach trips, a little bit of 'out of office' energy. But Democrats? They're in no mood for lawn chairs and lemonade. They're finally lacing up their gloves. Take California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who decided to fight fire with fire this week. He took to X and trolled President Trump in a post that looked like it could have come straight from Trump's own Truth Social feed — caps lock and all — warning about Texas redistricting while mocking Trump's style: DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!). STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES. PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA'S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON'T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. And then there's former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who put it— well, a little less delicately: 'We're in basketball game right now, if you'll excuse the metaphor, where the refs have left the arena and the other side is just clobbering the s–t out of us, punching us in the face, kicking us in the n—ts, and we're kind of throwing our hands up and we're asking the crowd, the people of America, 'hey do you see what's going on here?! This is unfair, this isn't the rules we agreed to play by,' well who cares about the f–king rules right now? Punch back, kick back, dunk over their heads and win some f–king power!' So, yeah — Democrats are starting to fight back. And a lot of people are saying, 'finally!' Don't just take my word for it. A recent Associated Press poll found that about 15 percent of Democrats describe their leaders as 'weak' or 'apathetic.' After years of warning that Trump was 'assaulting democracy,' some Democrats have decided the warning labels aren't enough — it's time for action. Axios reports Senate Democrats held more than 100 events in the first week of summer recess — town halls, hospital visits, small-business roundtables, food bank tours — all aimed at hammering Republican policies before the 2026 midterms. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to localize the impact of what Trump and the GOP Congress are pushing: cuts to health care, tariffs, rising energy costs, and tax breaks for the wealthy. It's exactly the kind of retail politics voters have been begging for — less D.C. bubble, more Main Street reality. Meanwhile, Republicans have been steering clear of town halls. Earlier this year, Rep. Richard Hudson, who runs the GOP's House campaign arm, advised members to skip them entirely. Maybe that's because when they do show up, the reception isn't exactly warm. Just ask Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood, who got heckled last week when he tried to tout 'the big beautiful bill' as the room screamed back at him, 'Tax the rich! Tax the rich!' A Wall Street Journal poll shows 52 percent of Americans oppose that bill, a warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms. So here's the bottom line: If Democrats keep showing backbone, meeting voters where they are, and making the case that Trump's policies hurt everyday Americans, they might actually turn 2026 into a comeback season. And if they don't? Well, they'll be back on the sidelines, wondering why the refs left the game in the first place.
