SYDNEY: US rapper and hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg has been barred entry into Australia because he is not "the sort of bloke we want in this country", the immigration minister said Thursday.
The 35-year-old - real name Calvin Broadus - had been due to attend the MTV Australian Video Music Awards this weekend.
But he fails the character test required to enter Australia and so his visa was cancelled, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said.
"He has a whole string of convictions and just two weeks ago he was convicted of a number of charges again, sentenced to three years jail, two on another, with five years probation and a suspended sentence," Andrews said.
"He has been denied entry into the United Kingdom because he was caught with others causing affray at Heathrow Airport," the minister told Australian radio.