Comedian Russell Brand Banned From South Africa
Russell Brand has been banned from South Africa. Although Brand knew about the ban before he boarded his flight, he still expected to be able to arrive and perform in Johannesburg as part of his Messiah Complex tour. Apparently, Brand was notified that he was banned before he boarded the flight but believed that everything was squared away from officials.
As fate would have it when Brand landed, airport staff turned him away. We don’t know why he was banned from South Africa, but we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it has something to do with his parody song “African Child” from the film Get Him To The Greek.
So what did Russell Brand do? He took photo and tweeted about the incident, of course. Russell didn’t seem to be too heartbroken over his ban in South Africa, and took the opportunity to pose in front of the Virgin Atlantic sign. He tweeted the photo at the airport with a caption that read: “Banned from South Africa. Here ready to go. Refused entry. Hope I can come soon #MessiahComplex.”
Brand alluded that fans may be right about “African Child” leading to his ban, having tweeted:
“It must be because African Child. Terrible record #messiahcomplex.”
However this isn’t a rare occurrence for Russell Brand, who has often angered audiences for some of his more off-color bits. One quick google search and one will see a list of other places Brand is banned from, including award shows.
Banned from South Africa. Here ready to go. Refused entry. Hope I can come soon #MessiahComplex pic.twitter.com/9DmnWqGR1F
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) November 15, 2013
Although it’s not clear if his ban in Canada actually happened, if you go by a spokesperson from the Casino Rama, it’s believed in 2011 Russell Brand was denied entry into Canada due to an issue with his charter jet. Back then he posed in front of a map of Canada and tweeted it out to his fans with the caption:
“I’m sorry. I can’t enter Canada. We must abolish the borders between our nations AND our minds.”
Throughout the years Brand has been banned from Japan, the GQ awards, and now he can add South Africa on his list.
“@rpower18: can’t help but wonder if you’re going for a full set? pic.twitter.com/1wsx5gvjpq” I might have to start taking responsibility.
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) November 15, 2013
As for his stop in Johannesburg, it was cancelled due to Brand being unable to perform in South Africa. It’s unknown whether or not ticket holders will be receiving a refund.
[Image credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]
