Celebrating a decades-long career in country music
Being famous comes with a lot of benefits, including opportunities to travel all around the world, but it also means that there's a higher level of scrutiny surrounding a celebrity's behavior or political stance—and some countries are not having it.
Click through this gallery to find out which other stars have been banned from traveling to certain countries!
The three-day Good Vibes music festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been canceled after the lead singer Matty Healy of British band The 1975 slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on July 21, captured in videos shared widely on social media, Healy said he "made a mistake" while booking shows and added, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have *** with.” Same-*** acts are criminalized in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m [ ] furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he told the audience. Healy added that the band considered canceling the show but decided not to disappoint fans. "I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy said before kissing bassist Ross MacDonald on stage. Their set was cut short and the Ministry of Communications and Digital not only canceled the rest of the festival but also banned The 1975 from performing in Malaysia.
But LGBTQ+ Malaysians and activists don't view Healy's stunt as helpful, and actually suggest that their "purely performative activism," which risks hardly anything for them regarding their livelihood, has pushed back all the progress made so far in the country. They say Healy's actions will only make life for the Malaysian LGBTQ+ community worse and make it more difficult for music artists to perform in the country.
A Twitter thread by Joe Lee, echoed by many others, read, “If anything, what Matt Healy and The 1975 have done is discount and disrupted YEARS of work by local activists who have been pushing for change and understanding AND endangering our vulnerable minority communities." He said the festival was right to cancel as it wouldn't have been safe with more queer friendly artists playing and could result in "disastrous" consequences. He went on: “Every country has its laws. Foreigners don’t get to come in and [ ] on us and tell us how to do things, especially when they only make it worse for us." Lee continued, "The real victims of this situation are 1. The Malaysian LGBTQ+ community, who are ow left to deal with the aftermath. 2. The Malaysia live concert industry which is struggling to bounce back post pandemic.”
Banned from: Russia
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, high-ranking Russian officials and oligarchs have faced harsh sanctions and travel bans. In response, Putin released a "blacklist" of 963 US citizens he has banned from entering Russia. The list includes outspoken political adversaries like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as their spouses. Hillary Clinton also made the list, but former President Donald Trump was notably absent. Hundreds of US politicians from both the democratic and republican parties were included, as well as several tech executives and leaders of news media outlets. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft President Brad Smith were blacklisted, along with journalists from publications like the New York Times, CNN, and The Post. Fox News was left unscathed.
Only two Hollywood names were included on the list: film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and actor Morgan Freeman. Freeman was listed as “a well-known film actor who in September 2017 recorded a video message accusing Russia of conspiring against the United States and calling for a fight against our country.” Regardless, the lengthy blacklist is unlikely to disrupt anyone's travel plans.
Malaysia has banned Bey for promoting "Western **** performances."
Gaga was barred from entering Indonesia: the Islamic Defenders Front called her a "destroyer of morals."
The Icelandic singer was banned from entering China after finishing a concert in Shanghai with a "Tibet" chant.
The rapper was banned from Canada because of his criminal record and alleged violence-promoting lyrics.
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Celebrities who have been banned from other countries
Certain countries have banned these celebrities from visiting!
CELEBRITY Banned
Being famous comes with a lot of benefits, including opportunities to travel all around the world, but it also means that there's a higher level of scrutiny surrounding a celebrity's behavior or political stance—and some countries are not having it.
Click through this gallery to find out which other stars have been banned from traveling to certain countries!