Busta Rhymes Denied Entry Into Britain
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Rapper Busta Rhymes was briefly detained at a London airport Thursday by immigration officers who said he should not be allowed into the country, a concert promoter said.
He was released, however, after a High Court judge ruled that the rapper was entitled to either bail or immediate release while he formulated a defense. Justice Julian Flaux said it was “difficult to see upon what basis” Rhymes had been detained.
Mr. Flaux ordered a hearing for the rapper’s legal challenge to the government’s attempt to keep him out of Britain. It will likely be held Friday afternoon.
Immigration officers at London City Airport said they refused entry based on “unresolved convictions” in America, according to Orange RockCorps., the promoter of a Busta Rhymes charity concert in the British capital.
The rapper, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., had been scheduled to appear Friday at a charity concert in London’s mammoth Royal Albert Hall. It was not immediately clear if he would do so.
Earlier, RockCorps. said that American rap star Ludacris has agreed to perform in Rhymes’ place.
RockCorps. said Mr. Smith had been allowed into Britain twice before this year.
