Why Candace Owens Is Banned From Entering These Countries

yesterday

Forbes

Topline

Notoriously controversial pundit Candace Owens’ history of outrageous comments caught up with her as she’s been denied a visa to enter New Zealand for a speaking engagement after she was denied entry in Australia last month when officials said she “has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction.”

Conservative American commentator Candace Owens is still selling tickets to speaking events in New ... [+] Zealand and Australia next year despite not currently being allowed in.

Getty Images Key Facts

Owens— who hosts a YouTube show—was refused an entertainment worker’s visa to New Zealand Thursday on the grounds that visas cannot be given legally to people who have been banned from another country, a spokesperson for the New Zealand immigration agency told the Associated Press.

The New Zealand Herald reported her visa to Australia was cancelled last minute before her shows there, with Australia’s Immigration Minister Tony Burke citing comments by Owens that “downplay[ed] the impact of the Holocaust” and claimed “ Muslims started slavery.”

After the Australia ban, Owens said “people don’t want me to get in front of an audience” and blamed the “Zionist media empire.”

Owens announced she was going to Australia and New Zealand in November for a speaking tour back in August, though her website now only lists dates in February and March 2025 and does not mention her visa problems.

The show is marketed as one that “will appeal to audiences seeking alternative viewpoints and in-depth discussions on pressing political and social topics.

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Key Background

Owens became a notable conservative presence on YouTube in 2017 saying she “became a conservative overnight” when she realized “liberals were actually the racists” and trolls. She served as the communications director for Turning Point USA, a conservative group for college students founded by Charlie Kirk, and in 2018 she founded “Blexit Foundation,” a group that encouraged Black people to leave the Democratic Party. Owens started a show, “Candace,” with the Daily Wire in 2021 and had guests including Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Steve Bannon. Daily Wire cut ties with Owen earlier this year after Owens had publicly sparred with Ben Shapiro, Daily Wire’s co-founder, about the Israel-Hamas war. Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew, has staunchly supported Israel during the war, while Owens has regularly criticized Israel over the growing number of Palestinian deaths. She also lashed out against "political Jews” and said they fueled antisemitism, and she has supported conspiracy theories that “secret Jewish gangs” have been behind “horrific acts” in Hollywood. The tension between the two escalated after Shapiro criticized Owens for her “faux sophistication” on the conflict and said “her behavior during this has been disgraceful, without a doubt.” After leaving the Daily Wire, Owens took her show back to YouTube, where she has more than 3 million subscribers, and she posts weekly videos in which she comments on the current political climate.

What Has Candace Owens Said About The Holocaust?

Owens received criticism in July after she said in an episode of her YouTube show that “some of the stories [of Nazis experimenting on captives] sound completely absurd.” She specifically said reports that Nazis “cut a human up and sewed them back together”—which Holocaust historians believe Dr. Josef Mengele performed on twins at Auschwitz—sounded “like bizarre propaganda.” Owens was also criticized in 2019 for defending some actions of Adolf Hilter in the name of nationalism.

What Happened With Kanye West And Candace Owens?

In 2018, Kanye West voiced support for Owens, saying in a since-deleted tweet he loved “the way Candace Owens thinks,” which sparked a friendship between the two. She was then present at TMZ in 2018 when West made his infamous comment that slavery was “a choice.” Later that year, Owens said shirts for “Blexit” were created by West, though she later denied saying that and apologized to West for any “undue stress or pain the effort to correct that rumor has caused him,” Billboard reported. Years later in October 2022, West and Owens were seen together wearing shirts that read “White lives matter”—which the Anti-Defamation League deems a white supremacist phrase—at a Paris fashion show, which began a string of moments that contributed to West losing much of his fortune. Two days after the fashion show, Adidas said it was putting its longstanding relationship with West under review, and for days after that West continued to make antisemitic statements, including that he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” (which led to his Twitter being locked), and subsequently said he did not regret his antisemitic remarks. Later that month Adidas cut ties with West—costing him his billionaire status .

Why Else Is Candace Owens Controversial?

Owens regularly takes conservative—or extreme—positions on gender identity, racial issues and more. When musician Harry Styles became the first man to be on the cover of Vogue—and did so wearing a dress—Owens responded by saying “bring back manly men.” She added: “the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack.” YouTube has demonetized some of Owens' videos that it said violated its hateful and derogatory content policies, including some in which she misgenders transgender people, NBC News reported. Owens has a number of videos in which she is critical of transgender people, saying in one now-removed video from 2021 the “trans movement represents a caricature of what it means to be a woman,” according to NBC.