Tyler, the Creator is slated to tour Australia in September, promoting his latest release Cherry. But there might be a hitch. Tyler just tweeted that he’s been banned from the country, suggesting Coralie Alison, the director of operations over at Collective shout, was responsible. Collective Shout have been campaigning to have Tyler’s visa revoked since 2013, because of his violent and threatening lyrics.
So far, the online critics seem to fall into a few groups: those who remain critical of a white woman’s takedown of a self-made black man, those who’re glad lyrics like “you call this shit rape but I think that rape’s fun” won’t be coming in to the country, and die-hard Tyler fans who are slinging violent threats directly at Coralie. These fervent fans aren’t doing themselves any favours, but the situation is muddy. Frontier Touring, the company handling Tyler’s upcoming visit, say the rapper’s visa hasn’t actually even been revoked. A recent statement explained that “with respect to media reports that Tyler, The Creator’s visa has been refused, Frontier would like to advise that this is not the case. The department for immigration has raised issues with the visa application but it has not been refused,” and ticket holders needn’t fret just yet. Tyler’s fan have already launched a counter-petition, imploring the department of immigration to approve his visa. Tyler’s former collective, Odd Future was previously banned from New Zealand for similar reasons.T IS NOW BANNED FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU WON @CoralieAlison IM HAPPY FOR YOU <3
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) July 27, 2015