British far-right commentator and all-around nuisance, Katie Hopkins, will be deported from Australia after having her visa cancelled.
The controversial media personality, known for her extremely conservative views, had arrived in Australia to participate in Channel 7’s Big Brother VIP.
The program is the celebrity edition of the iconic Big Brother franchise, and is also expected to include reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and actor Neil Patrick Harris.
On Saturday, Hopkins took to Instagram to criticise the country’s hotel quarantine rules.
She claimed that they are “the greatest hoax in human history” and joked about her plans to breach them.
According to Hopkins, she would be “lying in wait” for food to be delivered to her room.
Once the quarantine workers knocked on her door, she would then “spring it open and frighten the sh*t out of them and do it naked with no face mask”.
The video was met with intense backlash from both sides of the government and the general public. The Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews, labelled Hopkins’ actions as “despicable”.
“I’m with you, it’s appalling this individual behaved the way she did,” Andrews also said. “All visa holders must abide by the health directions issued by our health officials — we won’t tolerate those who don’t.”
Why on earth have you let Katie Hopkins into Australia @ScottMorrisonMP @karenandrewsmp?
This is a woman who called Islam disgusting, migrants “cockroaches” and called for a “final solution”. How does she get a visa, let alone a spot in quarantine over Australians?#auspol
— Josh Burns (@joshburnsmp) July 17, 2021
The controversial media personality, known for her extremely conservative views, had arrived in Australia to participate in Channel 7’s Big Brother VIP.
The program is the celebrity edition of the iconic Big Brother franchise, and is also expected to include reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and actor Neil Patrick Harris.
When speaking to ABC News breakfast, Andrews had this to say: “We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can arrange that. I am hoping that will happen imminently.”
Greens senator, Mehreen Faruqi, shared a similar sentiment regarding Hopkins.
“It says a lot about our priorities that Katie Hopkins can be permitted to come here and spew her vitriol during a pandemic … It’s as breathtaking as it is soul-crushing,” Faruqi said.
“What’s worse, Hopkins is making a mockery of our hotel quarantine system by openly flouting the rules and bragging about it on social media. This is just rage-inducing stuff from start to finish.”
We spend a lot of time criticising Covid, but Katie Hopkins flying all the way to Australia to sit in a hotel room for two weeks and then immediately get sent packing on the day of her release shows that this virus is finally pulling its weight.
— Sarah Kendall (@Sarah_Kendall) July 18, 2021
In response to the criticism they received at hiring Hopkins, the Seven Network, and their partner, Endemol Shine Australia, confirmed in a statement: “that Katie Hopkins is not part of Big Brother VIP. Seven and Endemol Shine strongly condemn her irresponsible and reckless comments in hotel quarantine.”
Hopkins is no stranger to controversy, having made headlines many times for her socio-political views.
In 2017, she was dropped from her job at the London-based radio station, LBC, after tweeting that a “final solution” was needed to deal with the fallout of the Manchester Bombing.
Furthermore, in 2015, Hopkins also stirred much anger over a column she wrote which compared migrants to cockroaches.
If that doesn’t sound like fascist talking points, we’ll eat our hats…
