Why was Kanye West’s Australian visa revoked? Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke condemns rapper over 'Heil Hitler'

Kanye West's Australian visa has been revoked. The visa was revoked over the singer's controversial song, "Heil Hitler," which was released in May 2025. The revoking of West's visa was confirmed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on July 2, 2025, in a statement to the press, here quoted as reported in DW's article on the matter that was released on the same day:

"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... It was a lower level (visa), and the officials still looked at the law and said, 'You're going to have a song and promote that sort of N*zism, we don't need that in Australia.'"

The minister also responded to the decision being an infringement on freedom of speech:

"For Australian citizens, yeah, you've got full freedom of speech. But we have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry."

Kanye West married Australian Bianca Censori

Kanye West's wife, Bianca Censori, whom he married in 2022, is Australian. Censori was born in the city of Melbourne and is an architect by profession. She is currently an Architectural Designer at Kanye West's apparel company, Yeezy.

West's marriage to an Australian did not seem to have helped with his visa status. This is not the first time the singer has been in the news for controversies surrounding the new song.

In June, after it was announced that Kanye West would perform at the Rubicon Festival in Slovakia, a petition was launched by the members of the local community and others to the mayor of Bratislava asking him to exercise his legal right and have the performance canceled. The petition currently has more than 6000 signatures:

"In May this year, he released a song called "Heil Hitler", which is banned in Germany, for example, and sold T-shirts with the swastika symbol on his e-shop as the only available product – which cannot be perceived otherwise than as a conscious effort to spread militaristic and totalitarian symbolism."

The petition continues:

"Therefore, we strongly ask you as a public representative to use your legal authority and in accordance with the laws... that you use all available legal and legal means to prevent the performance of this musician."

The song "Heil Hitler" was released on May 8, 2025. The name of the song is derived from the titular N*zi Salute and heavily features N*zi symbology, including parts of a speech by Adolf Hitler. While streaming services have removed it, it is still available on YouTube and the singer's official website as of the writing of this article.

Kanye West is currently working on his twelfth studio album, Bully, which he announced back in September 2024. The album, when it is released, will be his first solo release since 2022's Donda 2.

More recently, the singer collaborated with Ty Dolla $ign on the albums Vultures 1 and Vultures 2. The singer also worked with King Combs on the EP Never Stop in early 2025.

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Edited by Anshika Jain