Eminem (real name: Marshall Mathers III) has received a visa from the Australian government to perform at a pair of concerts in the country next week. But along with the approval came a warning to respect the country’s values and its multicultural society.
As previously reported, lawmakers and community groups opposed allowing the Grammy-winning rapper into the country with his group D12, saying his songs contain foul, violent, and racist lyrics demeaning to women and gays. Critics said the artist’s repeated brushes with the law should exclude him from a visa on the grounds of bad character.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said in a statement that Eminem was warned that the visa “carried with it a responsibility of respect for our multicultural society and values and the need to avoid vilifying or inciting discord… to the point where a potentially dangerous disturbance resulted.”
Ruddock said Eminem received the visa after acknowledging that breaching the requirements could result in the cancellation of his shows, scheduled for July 26-27 in Sydney and Melbourne. The performances are the pre-cursor to a July 29 Eminem/D12 appearance as part of the annual three-day Fuji Rock Festival in Nigata, Japan.
Last month, Mathers was sentenced to a year of probation on a weapons charge from a dispute with an associate of Detroit rap group Insane Clown Posse. He could have received as much as five years in prison.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to a separate weapons charge and was sentenced to two years of probation. In return, prosecutors dropped an assault charge accusing him of pistol-whipping a man seen kissing his then-wife outside a nightclub.
D12 topped The Billboard 200 in its first week on the chart with its Shady/Interscope debut album, “Devil’s Night.” After being bounced the next week by Alicia Keys’ J Records debut, “Songs In a Minor,” the set returned to the top of the chart last week.