Australian musician Keli Holiday’s girlfriend Abbie Chatfield has issued a lengthy apology on social media, after he was refused re-entry into the US midway through his North America tour.

Holiday – real name Adam Hyde – revealed yesterday that he had “spent all day detained at the Canadian border and denied entry back into the US despite having the proper visa documentation in place. I’m still trying to get clarity on the situation myself.”

Hyde did not offer an explanation for his expulsion from the US, but Australians had been bracing for intensified scrutiny at the American border after President Donald Trump announced plans to overhaul entry to the US last year, which would include forcing tourists to hand over five years of their social media history to border officials.

Keli Holiday was mysteriously barred from the US yesterday … Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Now, his girlfriend Abbie Chatfield has issued a lengthy public apology about something she posted almost a year ago.
Now, a day later, Hyde’s girlfriend of two years has issued an apology for a past headline-making post of hers, suggesting it may have been to blame for her partner getting the boot from the US.

Chatfield courted controversy in July last year for a video insinuating “incels” should harm US President Donald Trump.

Chatfield did not directly name the President in her video, which you can watch below, but hinted he should be harmed while making a gun symbol with her fingers.

“Americans, when are you going to do it?” she said.

“Why is it not already done? Every day, there’s another [gun symbol] happening, right? Awful for your country, right? Awful, right? Why don’t we redirect this energy to something else, you know?”

Social media users condemned the video, which was posted as the US experienced a disturbing rise in politically motivated violence, including assassination attacks on the President.

Chatfield addressed the past controversy in a 10-minute video statement shared to her Instagram today, saying that “a video that I posted a year ago has come back to haunt me, essentially.”

Chatfield says the July 2025 video (pictured) “has come back to haunt me.”
“Since posting that video a year ago, I have done so much growing,” the 30-year-old said.

“I have done so much work to really understand the impact of my words and also understand that I need to f**king think before I speak.”

Chatfield argued that her original post had been a joke at the expense of “incels” and the then internet thirst over accused killer Luigi Mangione. She insisted she had not called for the assassination of the US President.

“People have said that I have called for the assassination of Trump. I do not want that to happen. I want to be clear. I do NOT believe that political assassinations are positive for anybody. In fact, when Charlie Kirk was assassinated, I said that.”

“I never called for the assassination of [Trump]. This was a punchline that was meant to be about incels and the … Bizarre reaction to Luigi Mangione.”

Chatfield said the original post was a “complete flop” that had only received around “10,000 views” but then got “misinterpreted” as it gained wider attention.

The Trump administration has initiated tough new measures for those seeking entry to the US – including a social media sweep. Picture: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
“Looking back on all the things that I’ve said over my career, there’s so much I should have done differently and this video is one of them, but I do want you know the context and the attempt at a joke that really wasn’t funny and also the fact that I did not say President Trump,” she said.

“I did encourage people to do that to President Trump … that was not the intention.”

Chatfield finished the video by saying that issues like this were one reason she’s soon embarking on a national speaking tour: “I want people to understand that I’m genuinely concerned about these topics and I need to redirect my anger into being educational. Yes, still having a laugh, but not in a way that could harm people.”

These strict new security measures for entry to the US, part of a tightening of the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ETSA) system, target travellers from 42 visa-exempt countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

It’s led to Australian travellers admitting they felt “scared” and “nervous” their personal information and social media history could see them refused entry to the US.