Tyler, the Creator thinks he was treated like a “terrorist” by former UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
The 28-year-old rapper was banned from entering the country in 2015 by the then-Home Secretary after he was accused of encouraging violence and homophobia through his lyrics.
Reflecting on the incident, Tyler joked: “She’s gone, so I’m back.”
According to Tyler, it took many lawyers and letters, as well as time and money, before he was allowed to return to the UK.
And the chart-topping star remains angry about the way he was treated.
He told the Guardian newspaper: “Then you get the official thumbs up. It was like: damn, finally, but it was so stupid to have to endure that. I got treated like a terrorist.
“Yeah. I got treated like I was a murderer.”
In fact, at one stage, Tyler decided he simply didn’t have the desire to return to the UK.
He shared: “It was kind of stupid, and after a while I was like: I don’t even want to come back. But it was more the principle of: ‘Y’all really did this, over this? In comparison to other s**t people do, that y’all let in?’ So I’m happy that I got back. I feel like I won some invisible fight.”
Asked whether the length of the ban – which was three to five years – came as a surprise, he added: “Yeah, it surprised me. But then I remembered – I’m dark-skinned, so, ahh, all right, I get it. I mean, I don’t point my finger at that at first, but I looked at every outcome and I looked at every option.
“And after doing that six times, then you say, OK, what’s the difference between everyone else and me? And then you land on that.”
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