The last chunk of 2022 was as tumultuous as could be for the ever-outspoken Kanye West, whose career and business partnerships with Adidas and more imploded following a long line of controversial comments aimed at the Jewish population, and whose marriage to Kim Kardashian officially came to an end. He kicked off 2023 with the shocking reveal that he was already married again, this time to Yeezy employee Bianca Censori. But it looks like the new couple’s attempts to visit her family in Australia may not go as smoothly as they might have expected, as Ye might not be allowed into the country.
Bianca Censori, who has reportedly irked Kim Kardashian for years, is from Mebourne, Australia, which is where other family members still reside. As such, she and West were reportedly planning to take a trip down under, presumably to extend and share in the celebration of their wedding. (To be sure, their Utah ceremony did not include a signed marriage certificate, so its legality is still in question.) But Australian government officials have suggested that West could be barred from the country based on his antisemitic comments and claims, which would obviously throw a big spoke in their plan’s wheels.
At this point, it’s unclear where things will land, and it’s unknown whether or not Kanye West has applied for an entry visa yet. But education minister Jason Clare, who shared his contempt for the rapper’s Hitler-praising comments and more, said that kind of behavior is indeed the kind of red flag that can get someone banned. Here’s how he put it (via Sky News):
People like that who've applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected. I expect that if he does apply he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did.
As well, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, is said to have had a meeting to try and encourage government officials to deny Ye’s entry into the country. In his words:
We had a sympathetic hearing. We've made the case that this particular individual does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa and we set out our reasons in some detail in that letter.
The decision to allow or disallow Kanye West to travel to Australia could come down to Andrew Giles if the situation calls for it, and one would think a decision will be coming soon, as he’d planned to travel with Bianca Censori in a week or so. If push comes to shove, the couple may want to make room for Censori’s family to take a group trip to the U.S.
Here in the States this past weekend, West and Censori shared a meal with his daughter North West in Malibu, indicating that the new (if unofficial) wife is meeting his children in the public eye. Whether or not similar meetings will take place with the Censori fam, we'll have to wait and see.
