It turns out that Chris Brown may be denied entry to New Zealand on his upcoming December tour due to his history of violence and previous exclusion from the UK in 2010.
Following the announcement earlier today that Brown is planning a tour to Australia and New Zealand in Decemeber, reports have surfaced that Brown may be turned away by our Antipodean neighbours.
Speaking to the NZ Herald, Immigration New Zealand spokesman Marc Piercey confirmed that as Brown was rejected from entering the UK previously, he may indeed be denied entry now.
“If Chris Brown has been excluded from another country he will be ineligible to be granted a visa to enter New Zealand unless given a special direction,” Piercey said.
A special direction could be awarded under Section 17 of the Immigration Act 2009, which states that such a consideration may be granted if a person who is not eligible for a visa is allowed exceptions. However, Piercey was quick to point out that “to date Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has not received any application from the singer to travel to New Zealand.”
The potential ban comes after Brown’s highly publicised attack on Rihanna in 2009, the pop-star being his girlfriend at the time. Charged with a felony assault and sentenced to community service and five years probation, Brown was also given a restraining order that required him to stay away from the Umbrella singer.
Vocal in opposition to the tour is victims advocate Ruth Money. Slamming the tour announcement, Money, who supports victims and families that have suffered from domestic violence, called on the government to send a strong message on not tolerating domestic violence by denying Brown a visa.
“It’s outrageous. We need to send a message to New Zealand citizens and internationally that we do not and will not tolerate domestic violence. He is coming to this country where we’ve got a really serious domestic violence problem. People, whether he likes it or not, see him as a role model. We don’t want that kind of role model here.”
Spokesman for the White Ribbon campaign Rob McCann was also vocal in opposing the decision to allow Brown to tour the country, citing that such a move would send the wrong message to the public’s youth.
“Young women may think that what Chris Brown did is OK. Because he is behaving like that, it’s OK for their boyfriend to behave in that way too,” McCann said.
“I think it’s important for our youth that the Government say it’s not OK.”
While Brown has yet to be issued a visa for the tour, promoters have made a statement confirming that they don’t anticipate any problems. Speaking regarding their plans to bring Brown to the country Castor & Ford Tours’ Vili Leuga said, “Chris Brown toured Australia in 2011 without any issue so we don’t expect any issues gaining entry to New Zealand for this tour,” Stuff reports.
The news comes hot on the heels of Tyler, The Creator’s cancellation of his Australian shows planned for this month after he was rumoured to have been denied entry into the country.
UPDATE 02/12/15: Just a week before it was scheduled to kick off, Chris Brown’s Australian and New Zealand tour has been officially cancelled.
