Celebs Who Got Themselves Banned From Places

Ashley Hunte
A stop sign sitting in front of some trees.
Unsplash | Will Porada

Hopefully, you'll never have to feel the sting and slight embarrassment of being banned from somewhere. But if you have, then you probably know that it kind of sucks.

I'm sure for celebrities, a ban feels just as awkward. Especially when that ban is from a talk show, or an entire country. Here are some celebs who got banned from some pretty big places.

Tyler, the Creator was banned from entering the U.K.

The American rapper was, in fact banned from entering and performing in the U.K. thanks to some of his song lyrics, which were deemed homophobic and intolerant. Definitely not a good look.

Martin Scorsese was once banned from China.

Martin Scorsese at the premier of "Shutter Island" in 2010.
Wikimedia | Siebbi

Scorsese is one of a surprising number of artists and notable figures to be banned from China for any period of time. In his case, it was because of a biopic on the Dalai Lama he once filmed.

Akon was banned from entering Sri Lanka.

Akon dancing in an orange prison jumpsuit
Giphy | AKON

The singer was banned by the country for his music video for the song "Sexy Chick," which (very briefly) shows a Buddha statue in the background. This was enough to offend Sri Lanka, and they denied him entry in 2010.

Odd Future was banned from entering New Zealand.

Odd Future, whose leader is Tyler, the Creator, was banned from New Zealand as the country deemed them to be encouraging violent acts. According to New Zealand, the rap group was a danger to its citizens.

Keith Olbermann was banned from Piers Morgan's show.

Piers Morgan has been known to ban people from his show, for a number of reasons. When it came to the political commentator, though, Piers was just banning him for fun.

Morgan said, "it’s a temporary ban, designed to confuse and bemuse him, and hopefully engender a violent reaction."

The Kardashians (all of them) are banned from Anderson Cooper's show.

Anderson Cooper is pretty open about his dislike of the Kardashian clan. He's outright said that they would be the only guests he'd ban from appearing on Anderson Cooper 360.

Sandra Bernhard apparently got banned from David Letterman's show.

Bernhard has appeared on Letterman plenty of times in the past. But one day, the calls stopped coming, so if it wasn't an outright ban, Bernhard at least got ghosted. According to Letterman, Bernhard was dissing him behind his back, though she denies this, and apparently they've since mended their relationship somewhat.

Martha Stewart was banned from entering the U.K.

Remember when Martha Stewart served time in prison? Well, that criminal record was enough to keep England from shutting its doors to her. It just goes to show that crime doesn't pay.

Snoop Dogg was banned from entering Norway.

The rapper had a very small amount of marijuana on his person when trying to enter the country, which was enough for them to ban him in 2012. Luckily, the ban only lasted two years.

DJ Zedd was banned from entering China.

This won't be the last time in this list where someone's ban involves China. In this case, Zedd was banned by the nation for liking a South Park tweet. That's literally all he did.

Paris Hilton was banned from entering Japan.

Not long before she tried to enter the island nation in 2010, Hilton was arrested for cocaine possession. Of course, this was enough to keep Japan from letting her into the country.

Katy Perry was banned from entering China.

In this instance of China banning a celeb from setting foot in the nation, it was because Katy Perry wore a sunflower dress while performing in Taiwan. To China, this was seen as an act of solidarity with the nation, as the sunflower was a symbol of protest to an unfair trade agreement.

Justin Bieber was also banned from entering China.

China once again put their foot down on a celebrity entry. This time, they banned Bieber from entering the country because of his "bad behavior." They didn't even elaborate on what kind of behavior they meant.

Selena Gomez was banned from performing in Russia.

Russia has a slew of anti-LGBT+ laws, which includes limiting the performances of pro-LGBT+ artists. Because, among other human rights issues, Gomez is outspoken against homophobia and supports her LGBT+ fans, Russia kept her from entering the country.

Miley Cyrus was banned from entering the Dominican Republic.

According to the country, Cyrus "undertakes acts that go against morals and customs, which are punishable by Dominican law." But to be honest, it sounds more like the country hates fun.

Madonna was banned from appearing on Piers Morgan's show.

Around the same time Morgan banned Keith Olbermann from appearing on Piers Morgan Tonight, he also banned a bunch of other celebrities, including Madonna. Why Madonna? Apparently, she's "too vegan for TV."

Howie Mandel was (also) banned from appearing on Piers Morgan's show.

I guess Morgan really likes banning people from his show, for whatever reason. According to him, Mandel is "too irritating." Considering the fact that they appeared on America's Got Talent together, I take it they don't get along.

Bobcat Goldthwait was banned from appearing on 'The Tonight Show.'

Bobcat Goldthwait holding a chainsaw and screaming
Giphy | Warner Archive

Back in the '90s, Goldthwait was banned from Leno's show after he decided to cover a couch with lighter fluid and set it on fire. He also got fined over $3000 for the incident, and was sentenced to community service.

Hugh Grant was banned from Jon Stewart's show.

Hugh Grant at the premier of "Pirates: Band of Misfits" in 2012.
Wikimedia | Eva Rinaldi

According to Stewart, Hugh Grant is a pretty rude dude, and banned him from appearing on The Tonight Show after Grant left a pretty sour impression on set. Years later, Grant agreed that Stewart was in the right.

Kathy Griffin is banned from appearing on... almost every talk show.

Being outlandish and controversial is kind of Griffin's brand. But that attitude started putting talk show hosts off over the years. She's been banned from plenty of talk shows, including The View, The Today Show, Conan, and (temporarily) The Late Show with David Letterman.