Rapper Coolio refused entry to Canada, cancels Ottawa show
Controversial artist has lengthy record of run-ins with law; no reason given for denial
He may have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, but he can’t get across the border.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Coolio will not be making the fantastic voyage to Canada. He has been denied entry by border officials, according to an email sent by his agent to Ottawa’s Zaphod Beeblebrox, where he was scheduled to perform on July 25.
“Coolio has been denied entry into Canada and is regrettably unable to perform at confirmed shows in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City because of this,” says the email received by Zaphod’s owner Eugene Haslam. “An appeal will be made and there is every intention to revisit these dates later in the year; we offer our deepest apologies.”
The email Haslam received didn’t specify why Coolio was denied entry but Haslam Friday heard he didn’t have the right paperwork to get into the country.
It’s commonplace for club owners or venue operators to apply for work permits for non-Canadians to play in Canada.
Haslam doesn’t think that’s the hiccup but feels it’s more than likely the denial has something to do with “Coolio’s past.”
According to a media report, Coolio’s manager said the denial is specifically related to a 16-year-old gun charge — for illegally possessing a firearm. But Coolio has had more recent run-ins with the law.
Haslam brought up a known domestic assault charge with Coolio’s agent shortly after booking him.
The agent assured Haslam the charge stemmed from a dispute involving a custody agreement and that the rapper’s lawyers were working on it.
Coolio, easily identified by his omni-directional hair braids, has a lengthy record of dealings with the court, including a default 2013 judgment issued by U.S. federal court after a woman sued the rapper for jumping on her back and bull riding her. According to TMZ, an American celebrity-watching website, Coolio was arrested in Las Vegas on outstanding bench warrants for traffic violations in March 2012 and then put into the same prison his son was in.
In April 2006, Coolio pleaded not guilty to battery and drug possession after officials at a Los Angeles airport alleged they found crack cocaine and a crack pipe in his luggage.
Any non- Canadian convicted of a crime in Canada or convicted of an offence outside the country that would be considered a crime in Canada could be denied entry, according to the Canadian Border Services website.
Criminal records have kept many musicians out of the country before.
Local fans couldn’t believe that the Ottawa venue would be hosting Coolio when Haslam initially announced the show.
“It’s Coolio? THAT Coolio?” they said to him.
The soon-to-be 50-year-old Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., put out a steady stream of albums in the early ’90s with varying success. It was his 1995 single Gangsta’s Paradise,
‘An appeal will be made and there is every intention to revisit these dates later in the year; we offer our deepest apologies.’
EMAIL TO EUGENE HASLAM FROM COOLIO’S AGENT
on the soundtrack for Michelle Pfeiffer’s Dangerous Minds, that catapulted him to success and into karaoke song books everywhere.
In recent years, the rapper has moved on to acting, producing and appearing on celebrity reality TV, even starring in his own show, Coolio’s Rules in 2009.
That same year, Coolio appeared as a housemate on the celebrity edition of Big Brother. The next year, in an appearance on Ultimate Big Brother, he was ejected from the show and the house for what producers said was “unacceptable behaviour” toward other house guests. He has even released a cookbook — Cookin’ with Coolio, which offers “5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price” and has spawned YouTube videos showing the rapper cooking.
Haslam will wait to see if anything changes but is already offering refunds on the $20 advanced tickets to the show. Coolio’s manager could not be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for the CBSA was also unavailable.