10 More People Banned From Britain

Yesterday, UK Home Secretary Jaqcui Smith released the names of 16 people who are banned from entering Britain on the grounds that they foster or promote hate and extremism. Among those appearing on the "named and shamed" list is super right-wing American talk-show host Michael Savage, who once branded the Quran "a book of hate" and claimed that most children with autism are "a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out." Also on the list is Fred Phelps, Baptist pastor of the "God hates fags" vitriol who, along with his coterie of equally insane, equally hateful "congregants," make a sport of demonstrating at the funerals of US soldiers and blaming the gays for the war in Iraq.

But these 16 who have been named as part of this public shaming exercise are just the tip of the banned-from-Britain iceberg, and we decided to see who else we could find who's had the doors of Britannia slammed in their face.

1. Martha Stewart

2. Barack Obama's half-brother

There's no end of presidential brothers who've screwed up in big ways and, as it turns out, President Obama's brother isn't bucking the trend. Samson "Abo" Obama, who runs a cell phone shop in Nairobi, Kenya, has been banned from Britain after being accused of sexually attacking a 13-year-old girl on his last visit to the UK. In fact, Samson Obama was on his way to the US for the President's inauguration ceremony and had intended to stop over in Britain to visit relatives, but was barred by immigration officials from entering the country. A White House official said President Obama had not spoken to Samson in 20 years.

3. Snoop

However, the following year, an immigration judge overturned the Home Office ruling, claiming that video footage of the alleged Heathrow Airport incident showed Snoop being a generally law abiding citizen and that security and police were the ones doing the pushing. So, Snoop was allowed back in the UK and the day was saved.

Still, the UK wasn't the only country to say no to the DoggFather: Also in 2007, Snoop was denied entry to Australia after failing a "character test" and was therefore unable to co-host the MTV Australian Video Awards.

4. Busta Rhymes

In September 2008, rapper Busta Rhymes was denied entry to the UK because he's "so dangerous." (Get it? His big hit song, inspired by a 1970s PSA about the dangers of mistaking medicine for candy? OK, I'm done.)

Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor Smith and who was scheduled to headline a UK RockCorps concert at Royal Albert Hall, was denied entry into the country due to "unresolved convictions" in the US and was ordered to leave. Thing was, Busta had already been allowed into the country twice that same year and even had a work permit to perform at the charity concert. Busta's lawyers were able to get an injunction against the border official's decision, preventing Busta's removal from the country. Busta was kept under armed guard at the airport for 12 hours until a judge lifted the ban; he then went on to perform to a packed house of 5,000 RockCorps volunteers.

5. Pablo Neruda

The famous Chilean poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, Pablo Neruda was famously denied entry to the UK, due in large part to his Communist political ideals. Born NeftalÃ Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, Neruda had already achieved fame for his works of poetic genius by the Cold War. He was also a confirmed member of the Communist Party, had been awarded the Stalin Peace Prize (in 1953), and held numerous diplomatic positions where he made no secret of his loyalty to the Party. And that didn't endear him in the slightest to UK border officials.

Another famous Pablo, Pablo Picasso, was nearly denied entry to Britain during the whole Cold War thing; he was eventually allowed in, but was monitored.

6. Paul Robeson

7. Dimitri Shostakovich

Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich, who rose to fame during the rise of the Soviets, was also banned from Britain during the Cold War. However, his relationship to the Communist Party was far less loving than Neruda or even Picasso and was likely the result of blackmail or political pressure.

8. Gert Wilders

Gert Wilders, a Dutch MP and leader of the Dutch Freeman Party, was banned from entering Britain this past February, the day before he was expected to show his 17-minute film linking Islam to terror and calling the Quran a "fascist book" at the House of Lords. The film, called Fitna "“ an Arabic word meaning, very approximately, "schism" "“ opens with the massively contentious cartoon image of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb as a turban, which, when it was first published in a Danish newspaper, was met with condemnation from virtually every corner of the globe.

Wilders called the UK's decision "cowardly," and the Dutch government pressed the UK to reverse the ban, but it stuck.

Britain has also denied entry to many other figures of controversy including, but certainly not limited to, leader of the Moonie cult, Sun Myung Moon; Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam; white supremacist Dennis Mahon; and shady Indian "guru," Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho.

9. A Brazilian Escort

Lots of people get turned away at the British border, and not just rappers, domestic doyennes and extremists. Earlier this year a Brazilian woman was denied entry after a search of her bags revealed a "collection of sex paraphernalia," including lingerie, sex toys, an address book containing the names and information of male contacts and escort agencies, and not much else.

10. A Random Tourist

The arbitrariness of the Border entry system is probably best highlighted with this story, from the Telegraph: A foreigner who wanted to spend a week in England's north country was denied entry after officials claimed it was "not credible" for anyone to want to spend a week in Gateshead.