International Herald Tribune reports
British memoirist Sebastian Horsley is denied U.S. entry
Sebastian Horsley, a British author who has written an eyebrow-raising memoir detailing a life of rampant drug use and voluminous encounters with prostitutes, was turned back at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday as he tried to enter the United States for a book party and New York news media tour.
Horsley, whose memoir, "Dandy in the Underworld," was published last week in paperback by Harper Perennial, a unit of HarperCollins, said he was detained by United States customs authorities for eight hours and questioned about his former drug addiction, use of prostitutes and activity as a male escort.
"I'm absolutely shattered and upset and gutted about not being able to come to America," Horsley said in a telephone interview from London, where he had returned on Wednesday. "I was very much looking forward to meeting everybody."
Lucille Cirillo, a spokeswoman for the New York office of United States Customs and Border Protection, said she could not comment on specific cases. But in an e-mail message, she said that under a waiver program that allows British citizens to enter the United States without a visa, "travelers who have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude (which includes controlled-substance violations) or admit to previously having a drug addiction are not admissible."
(Thanks to Nobody's Business)
Hell, the news hit Gawker.com even before Mr. Horsley was back on a flight to Blighty. Makes you think... Especially as the Reuters newspiece (which IHT reprinted) was largely based on a press release from Harper Perennial, his publishers.
Here's an interesting quote from Gawker's coverage of the release party:
"HarperCollins sales director Nina Olmsted told me she had thought Horsley's detainment was a publicity stunt when she heard the news yesterday afternoon"
All I have to say is - What a PR coup this was. Was is HarperCollins or Sebastian Horsley that set this one up?