Polarizing conservative commentator Candace Owens is having a hard time trying to book speaking gigs internationally. In latest news, Owens has officially been banned from her second country...and the reasons behind it shouldn’t come as a surprise
On Nov. 19, it was announced that Owens’ visa request to enter New Zealand was denied, according to USA Today. This comes just weeks after the right-wing firebrand was banned from entering the neighboring country of Australia.
Owens was reportedly scheduled to speak in many cities across New Zealand and Australia in February and March. According to AP News, tickets for these events are still on sale.
The controversial speaker has made her name spewing MAGA-forward rhetoric and amplifying dangerous conspiracy theories over the years. Owens has more than 3 million subscribers on YouTube and over 11 million collective followers on X and Instagram.
Australia first moved to ban the 35-year-old commentator in October because of her continuous Holocaust denial and divisive conspiracy theories, which were spurred by the ongoing Isreal-Hamas conflict in Gaza, according to the Guardian. After banning Owens, Immigration Minister Tony Burke said “Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.”
The snowball quickly began rolling downhill, and it didn’t take long for New Zealand to notice the Australian ban and begin evaluating the potential threat Owens posed to their own country.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) deputy chief operating officer Jeannie Melville told the New Zealand Herald, “All visa applicants must meet specific requirements, including a good character assessment that considers factors such as criminal convictions, deportation history, and potential risks to New Zealand’s security, public order, or public interest.”
And with Owens’ antisemitic ways and her name interestingly being cited in the New Zealand Christchurch mosque shooter’s manifesto — where 50 people were murdered after Brenton Tarrant entered two mosques in 2019, according to NBC News — it’s no surprise Owens has been denied entry.
Jock Gilray, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s immigration agency, told AP News that Owens was denied an entertainer’s work permit because visas legally cannot be granted to those who have been banned from another country. Given that, more countries could also deny Owens entry in the future.