New Zealand on Wednesday denied controversial U.S. political commentator Candace Owens an entry visa, citing a similar ban by Australia a month ago.
Owens, 35, who has sparked controversy in recent months by spreading antisemitic tropes, was to have given a speech at West Auckland’s Trusts Arena on Nov. 14.
“Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has declined the application from Candace Owens for an Entertainers Work Visa,” said acting INZ deputy chief operating officer Jock Gilray.
“Under section 15(1)(f) of the Immigration Act, an individual may not be granted a visa to come to New Zealand if they have been excluded from another country,” he added.
Australia’s Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister Tony Burke cited Owens’ Holocaust denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories in his Oct. 27 announcement that her request to enter the country had been rejected.
“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else,” said Burke.
Australian Jewish groups had urged officials to bar her from the country.
Owens was let go by The Daily Wire, owned by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, in March. Although no official reason was given, TMZ reported it was due to Owens’ promotion of Jew hatred.
“In recent months, the 35-year-old has leaned into Holocaust denial, spurred by her stance on the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. Her name was even cited in the Christchurch mosque shooter’s manifesto,” reported The New Zealand Herald.
In July, Owens dismissed as “bizarre propaganda” the torturous “experiments” on Jewish and other concentration camp inmates by Nazi doctor Josef Mengele during the Holocaust.
Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chairwoman Deborah Hart told the Herald that Owens subscribes to some “very wacky” ideas.
“She says that Jews orchestrated JFK’s assassination, and she distorts the Holocaust, including questioning the medical experimentation in death camps. In 2022 she defended Ye [Kanye West] when he said he would go ‘Deathcon 3 on Jewish people’. She believes there was no moon landing,” she told the Herald.
She also noted that New Zealand has seen a sharp rise in antisemitism and feared that Owens could further inflame it.
New Zealand denied entry to Holocaust denier David Irving in 2004, the Herald noted.
Owens, who has hosted an online talk show since 2021, started out as pro-Israel, criticizing Democrats in 2018 for not taking part in a ceremony to transfer the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and accusing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of being “programmed to hate Israel.”
