LONDON – Rapper Busta Rhymes was briefly detained at a London airport Thursday by immigration officers who said he should not be allowed into the country, a concert promoter said.
He was released, however, after a High Court judge ruled that Rhymes was entitled to either bail or immediate release while he formulated a defense. Justice Julian Flaux said it was "difficult to see upon what basis" Rhymes had been detained.
Flaux ordered a hearing for Rhymes' legal challenge to the government's attempt to keep him out of Britain. It will likely be held Friday afternoon.
Immigration officers at London City Airport said they refused Rhymes entry based on "unresolved convictions" in the United States, according to Orange RockCorps., the promoter of a Busta Rhymes charity concert in the British capital.
Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., had been scheduled to appear Friday at a charity concert in London's mammoth Royal Albert Hall. It was not immediately clear if he would do so.
Earlier, RockCorps. said that U.S. rap star Ludacris has agreed to perform in Rhymes' place.
RockCorps. said Rhymes had been allowed into Britain twice before this year.
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