Celebrities lead a more luxurious life than most and are granted access to travel the world. But despite their stardom, some have also been banned from countries. Some of them are banned because of their past behaviors and some because simply of the outfit they wore. When it comes to granting access to the country, government officials don’t mess around. They are quite serious about who gets in, and who doesn’t.
To promote their music and films, many A-listers travel around the world and having restricted access can be damaging to their career. Here we have listed some of the celebrities who are banned from the countries. Let’s take a look:
- Beyonce
Beyonce is an incredibly successful woman and people are crazy about her. However, Malaysia is one country that won’t be supporting her in concert. According to BravoTV, Beyonce decided to cancel her concert in the country in 2009. Because of their strict religious beliefs, her outfit seemed inappropriate for the country. She was given the option of changing her wardrobe for the concert. But she instead chose to cancel the show altogether.
2. Katy Perry
Katy Perry made headlines in 2017 when she got ban from China indefinitely. According to Page Six, her application for a visa for the country has been denied and was given a ban. Well, she was banned just because she wore a bright yellow, sunflower dress in 2015. She wore that dress during a show in Taipei, Taiwan. However, it caused controversy because sunflower is used by anti-China protesters.
3. Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez has been banned from two countries, China and Russia. According to Fox News, she was banned from China because she took with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and shared the image online. And according to Cosmopolitan, she was banned from Russia because of her support for gay rights.
4. Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber is a famous singer who is banned from Argentina. In 2013, he was accused of disrespecting their flag and was also reported to have got into an altercation with a photographer. His behavior got people rolling their eyes and ultimately got banned from the country.
5. Bjork
The Icelandic singer-songwriter, Bjork is banned from China. The singer was in Beijing performing one of her songs, “Declare Independence.” Suddenly, she started chanting the word “Tibet!” over and over again. According to the Chinese government, she broke the law.
6. Gigi Hadid
Alec Baldwin’s “joke” about mail-order brides from the Philippines did not go well with the common people as well as the Filipino Bureau of Immigration. Alec was single at that time and during an interview on Late Night with David Letterman, he said, “thinking about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point… or a Russian one.” Later, he apologized but was not forgiven.
7. Alec Baldwin
Joining the list of stars that have been banned from China is Gigi Hadid. Earlier, she was seen in a video not just narrowing her eyes, but also mimicing the Buddha shape of a cookie in front of the camera. This angered Chinese netizens and officials too. This made her got a ban in China. Well, this became the headline in 2017, when her visa was denied for the country.
8. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus posted a photo of herself with slanted eyes. This offended a lot of people in 2009 and resulted in a ban from China. The Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi said, “Miss Cyrus has made it clear she is no friend of China or anyone of East Asian descent. We have no interest in further polluting our children’s minds with her American ignorance.”
9. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga is not welcome in Indonesia because of her inappropriate actions. The singer revealed in 2012 that she was devastated to have to cancel her tour amid protests in Indonesia. It leads the officials to refuse her an entry permit. She had been given the choice to tone down her act. But, her management canceled the show. They reasoned that it was for the security of both Gaga and concert-goers.
10. Lily Allen
British singer Lily Allen was banned from the United States. She was banned because she hit a paparazzo in London, England. Allen had to postpone her tour in 2007 and was no longer able to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards.
11. Akon
Akon angered a lot of people, especially in Sri Lanka. He was banned because he released a music video where he was enjoying a pool party and a Buddha statue was in the background. The singer claimed that he did not even know it was there. It spurred a number of protests in Colombo. This leads him to apologize stating, “never set out to offend or desecrate anyone’s religion.”
12. Paris Hilton
When Paris Hilton landed in trouble with the United States, she also landed a ban from Japan. She was banned in the United State because of a charge in Las Vegas. In 2010, she was set to visit the country to promote her fashion lines and fragrance. But she was refused entry, hen she arrived at Tokyo airport in her private jet. Before being sent back to Los Angeles, she had to spend six hours chatting to officials. She was quite disappointed but respected the laws.
