Right-Wing Troll Katie Hopkins Is Officially Getting Deported & Australians Couldn’t Be Happier
"Katie Hopkins being dumped from a reality tv show for breaking COVID restrictions and not for being a massive fucking racist is literally the most Australian thing imaginable."
Just days after news broke that Katie Hopkins had landed in Australia as a rumoured cast member for Big Brother VIP, the right-wing troll is facing imminent deportation after her visa was cancelled.
Katie Hopkins had allegedly been brought to Australia by the Seven Network ahead of filming for its celebrity Big Brother spin-off alongside other rumoured cast members like Caitlyn Jenner and Neil Patrick Harris.
However, Hopkins was swiftly dropped by the network after she bragged about flouting quarantine safety protocols on Instagram over the weekend.
During an Instagram Live, the right-wing commentator described lockdowns as “the greatest hoax in human history” and boasted about deliberately breaking hotel quarantine rules.
Hopkins said she was “lying in wait” to answer knocks at her door naked and maskless in an attempt to “frighten the shit” out of quarantine workers — even though police told the British commentator that she had to wait 30 seconds to answer the door and must be wearing a mask when doing so.
As a result of her disregard for the health and safety of Australia’s quarantine workers, Katie Hopkins has been dropped by Channel 7, her visa has officially been cancelled and she is now facing deportation as soon as it’s able to be done.
Channel 7 pic.twitter.com/KVN7vHylCy
— Amy Gray (@_AmyGray_) July 18, 2021
Yesterday, the Seven Network and Endemol Shine confirmed that Katie Hopkins would no longer be appearing on Big Brother VIP and shared that they “strongly condemn her irresponsible and reckless comments in hotel quarantine”.
On the same day, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced that the Australian Border Force was investigating Hopkins and her quarantine claims, noting that visa condition breaches may result in “visa cancellation in accordance with the law” — and today, that’s exactly what happened.
This morning, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told the ABC that Katie Hopkins’ visa had been cancelled and that the right-wing commentator would be booted out of Australia “as soon as we can possibly arrange that”.
“There was a bit of a process we needed to follow with [cancelling the visa]. We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can possibly arrange that. I’m hopeful that will happen imminently,” Karen Andrews said.
“The fact that she was out there boasting about breaching quarantine was just appalling. It was a slap in the face for all those Australians who are currently in lockdown,” she continued. “It was just unacceptable behaviour, so personally, I’m very pleased she’ll be leaving.”
And the Home Affairs Minister isn’t the only one pleased by the news — Australians across the country were absolutely buzzing at the news that Katie Hopkins’ visa was cancelled before she even got to set foot outside a quarantine facility.
Say what you will about the Seven/Hopkins thing, but making her fly to the other side of the world, spend two weeks in hotel quarantine, then immediately deporting her is VERY funny
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) July 18, 2021
Divided nation pulls together in time of need to tell Katie Hopkins to fuck off https://t.co/9S4PMdvkQi
— The Chaser (@chaser) July 18, 2021
Katie Hopkins?! FUCK OFF WE’RE FULL! We’ve already got many capable Racists with social media platforms; weekly TV spots, radio and print! Don’t come out here tryna take their jobs mate.
— Senator Briggs (@Briggs) July 18, 2021
Katie Hopkins getting herself deported from a country for refusing to abide by their laws is just the icing on top of a foul-tasting cake nobody even ordered in the first place.pic.twitter.com/JG6OkJ40vy
— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) July 18, 2021
When Sydney and Melbourne got angry at each other over the delta variant, Channel 7 has successfully managed to bring us all together to tell Katie Hopkins to fuck off
— Chaser Interns (@ChaserInterns) July 17, 2021
not done much today still laughing at Katie Hopkins getting herself deported from Australia
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) July 18, 2021
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
Katie Hopkins being dumped from a reality tv show for breaking COVID restrictions and not for being a massive fucking racist is literally the most Australian thing imaginable
— The Shovel (@TheShovel) July 18, 2021
But with thousands still stranded overseas, Australians are also quite annoyed that the government even allowed a known racist into the country as citizens struggle to come home due to strict limits on international arrivals.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi noted that Hopkins’ ability to even enter Australia during this time a “new low”, which has “exposed the absurdity and cruelty of Fortress Australia”.
“British far-right commentator Katie Hopkins — banned from Twitter for hateful conduct — has made it to Sydney,” Faruqi wrote on Twitter. “Meanwhile, thousands of families remain separated from their loved ones overseas.”
“It says a lot about our priorities that Hopkins can be permitted to come here and spew her vitriol during a pandemic. It’s as breathtaking as it is soul-crushing.”
Katie Hopkins passes the character test but the Biloela family don’t. Give me a break. Who are we?
— Jennifer Crawford (@OurNewHomecoach) July 18, 2021
The people who cancelled Katie Hopkins' contract are the people who hired her, and the people who cancelled her visa are the people who granted it.
— marquelawyers (@marquelawyers) July 18, 2021
Despite the federal government ultimately being responsible for who does and doesn’t get a visa, the Home Affairs Minister is trying to shift blame to state governments.
“This does happen from time to time — it actually happens reasonably regularly — that state governments approach the federal government on the basis there is an economic benefit to some people coming in over the quarantine caps, and the quarantine caps then are a matter for the states to handle,” Karen Andrews said.
But regardless of whether the state government requested Hopkins be let into the country, the fact of the matter remains: The federal government allowed Katie Hopkins to come to Australia.
The federal government really granted a visa to a right-wing troll — who was banned from Twitter for “hateful conduct”, who compared migrants to cockroaches, and who said that dementia sufferers shouldn’t “block” hospital beds — instead of letting Australian citizens return home.
Sounds about Australia.