(Photo Credits: The Young Turks and HasanAbi on YouTube)
The Young Turks’ chief pundit Cenk Uygur was barred from entering the United Kingdom over government concerns his presence would not be “conducive to the public good,” The Times reported on Sunday.
Uygur was set to appear at the SXSW London festival later this week. But British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood decided the leftist commentator was not fit to enter the country, due in part to his rants against Israel.
The Times reported:
The decision to block Uygur from travelling to the UK is understood to have been based on several grounds, including fears that his presence would risk exacerbating antisemitism due to his rhetoric since the October 7 attacks in 2023.
This has included repeating classic antisemitic tropes, such as the claim that Israel controls America. He falsely claimed on his podcast in July last year that the Israeli lobby gave more to Congress than any other.
Uygur confirmed he was banned from entering the UK in an X post on Sunday. He said it was for “criticizing Israel.”
“Are we free anymore?” he continued. “This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!”
I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) May 31, 2026
His nephew, popular streamer and former TYT commentator Hasan Piker, said he was banned from entering the UK as well during a livestream on Sunday.
“I didn’t want to talk about it, but uh, my visa has also been revoked,” Piker said. “We just found out… I don’t know who to reach-out for this.”
Piker has made headlines for a number of claims over the years, including saying America “deserved” to be attacked on September 11.
He has also called Hamas “the lesser of two evils” when comparing the terrorist organization and Israel. And last month during an appearance on Pod Save America, Piker branded the Republican Party the “biggest domestic terrorist” organization and the “biggest terrorist internationally.”
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