Abbie Chatfield apologises after musician boyfriend’s US visa revoked
Source: @abbeychatfield / Instagram
Abbie Chatfield has taken to social media to apologise for a post she made more than a year ago after her musician boyfriend Keli Holiday was stopped from re-entering the US during a tour.
Holiday – whose real name is Adam Hyde and who is best known as one half of the Australian electronic duo Peking Duk – revealed on the weekend that he had been detained at the Canadian border while trying to return to America for a show in New York.
The singer insisted in an Instagram story post that he had the correct visa documentation in place, adding:
“I’m still trying to get clarity on the situation myself. I’m honestly gutted… I hate letting people down and to be honest really wanted to party with you all.”
Keli Holiday is a solo side project for Hyde through which he released the 2025 viral hit Dancing2. He was in the US for a short tour that included a show in Toronto and was to have ended with a performance at New York venue Baby’s All Right.
A statement released to media outlets by Holiday’s representative said he wasn’t given a reason for his visa cancellation.
However, radio host and reality-TV star Chatfield shared a 10-minute video on social media on Tuesday apologising over what she described as “a (very bad) joke” posted more than a year ago.
It followed speculation that the since-deleted original post might be responsible for Holiday being refused re-entry to America because it was interpreted by some as suggesting “incels” (“involuntary celibates”) should harm Donald Trump, although Chatfield didn’t actually name the US President.
In her new post, which has had more than 300,000 views, Chatfield said the video was “misunderstood or exaggerated”, and had now come back to haunt her.
“While I do think it was taken out of context, and the intent behind it was stripped and warped, I still think I should talk about it and apologise for it, because honestly, since posting that video a year ago I have done so much growing, I have done so much work to really understand the impact of my words…”
Chatfield – host of the It’s a Lot podcast and a self-described “chronic over-sharer” – said her original comments were “a stupid joke intended to point out the violence coming from incels” and were motivated by the “bizarre reaction” to Luigi Mangione, accused killer of the CEO of American company UnitedHealthcare.
“People have said I called for the assassination of Trump. I do not want that to happen…” she said.
“I disagree with Trump’s policy, his views, all of these things, right? But I never said his name in this video. I never said it was about him.”
In the caption accompanying her Instagram post, she added: “I also want to make it clear Adam hadn’t even seen this video, so any vitriol toward him is unwarranted.”
In comments on Holiday’s own social media pages, many users have hit out at Chatfield, with some sarcastically suggesting she is “doing wonders” for his music career.
One Instagram user suggested that a “romantic association” could form part of the basis for a US border security officer making the decision to deny or revoke a visa.
US border security has been tightened under Trump, with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warning last year that an increasing number of would-be visitors were being turned back. It noted that officials may ask to inspect electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts.
Hyde/Holiday has now returned to Australia and is scheduled to perform a show with Peking Duk bandmate Reuben Styles at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Friday. The duo are also on the bill for the Bass in the Grass music festival at Darwin’s Mindil Beach on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a portrait of Hyde by artist Sandy Sinn is on show at the Art Gallery of New South Wales after being named as a finalist in the 2026 Archibald Prize.
‘Adam’s very striking visually, one of a long list of reasons I knew he’d be great to paint,” Sinn said in his artist’s statement, which described the musician as someone who was outspoken and stood up for people.
“He appeared at my studio wearing a silver scorpion necklace, which he said was a gift from his girlfriend, Abbie Chatfield, bought on a mezcal-soaked trip to Mexico. He joked, ‘It’s to keep on stingin’ … and singin’ even when the devil’s got ya swingin’.
“I knew I had to include it.”
Holiday shared a video on Instagram on Tuesday that showed him kneeling in front the portrait wearing a T-shirt with the words “I hate Keli Holiday”.
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