R&B singer Bobby Brown is set to perform two concerts in New Zealand but some are questioning whether he should be kept out of the country, given his rocky past. Brown has been in trouble with the law including battery charges against his former wife singer and actress Whitney Houston. Heâs also spent time in jail due to non-child support payment. Brown, due to perform in Rotorua on July 15 and in Auckland two days later, has yet to apply for a visa. Department of Labor group manager for border security Api Fiso said the singer would have to apply for a work visa, like all musical entertainers wanting to work in New Zealand. He said Brown’s representative had been told the singer must apply for a work visa prior to coming. “This application should be lodged as soon as possible in order to be considered,” he said. “As with all visa applications, the applicant must meet the standard entry requirements including health and character requirements.” Rotorua MP Steve Chadwick has raised Brown’s proposed trip with Immigration Minister David Cunliffe, after being approached by the Rotorua Review, a community paper. The paper, which posted a report on the Stuff website yesterday, suggested anyone with Brown’s background should not be allowed into New Zealand. “Aspects of Brown’s questionable past, an unenviable litany of malevolence involving…sexual battery and drug use offences, have been raised with the (immigration) department,” the report said. It questioned why the singer should be allowed to enter New Zealand when “relatively minor indiscretions” would stop anyone entering the US. The Rotorua Review said tickets for the Rotorua concert went on sale last week at $54 each.
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