This Is What It Looks Like When The UK Decides Your Views Are So Extreme You Are Banned From The Country
Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, better known as just Dieudonné, is a very popular French comedian.
He's also very controversial. Much of the 34-year-old's act relates to Jews and the Holocaust. In 2009, he began using a gesture, called "la quenelle," that critics claim is a low key way of making a Nazi salute, though Dieudonné claims its just "anti-system."
Dieudonné is so controversial in France that a top court recently banned him from performing in certain French cities. French soccer star Nicolas Anelka is being investigated by the United Kingdom's Football Authority after making the "la quenelle" gesture during a game in the Premier League.
The comedian had been planning on visiting the U.K. to show support for Anelka, his friend, but the U.K. had different ideas. Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger was leaked a copy of an order telling transport carriers they would be a fined up to £10,000 ($16,000) if they allow him to travel to Britain.
The U.K.'s Home Office later explained that Dieudonné had officially become a persona non grata under an "exclusion order."
"We can confirm that Mr. Dieudonne is subject to an exclusion order," Britain's Home Office told CNN. "The Home Secretary will seek to exclude an individual from the UK if she considers that there are public policy or public security reasons to do so."
The U.K. has banned people from entering the country due to extreme views in the past. In 2009 the Home Secretary released a list of those banned from the U.K., which included a number of Americans including talk-radio host, Michael Savage, and anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps Sr.
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