The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

This Bollywood Star Keeps Getting Stopped at U.S. Airports

It's the third time in recent years Khan has been stopped by U.S. security.

By , a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2014-2017.
GettyImages-544028934
GettyImages-544028934

For Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, a third time trying to enter the United States has proven not to be a charm.

For Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, a third time trying to enter the United States has proven not to be a charm.

Khan, known as the “King of Bollywood” and one of the most famous men in Asia and across the Indian diaspora, flew into Los Angeles on Thursday. Once he arrived in the States, he was detained by U.S. immigration authorities. Late Thursday, he tweeted this:

He then added some levity to the situation.

This isn’t Khan’s first run-in with U.S. immigration officers. In 2009, Khan was stopped by officials at the Newark airport en route to Chicago for a parade to mark India’s independence day. Then, in 2012, he was stopped after flying into an airport in White Plains, near New York City.

It’s not immediately clear why Khan has been repeatedly detained. U.S. Customs and Border Protection didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Transportation Security Administration.

Khan’s latest detention generated so much negative feedback on social media that the U.S. Ambassador to India Rich Verma tweeted an apology to Khan, as did Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal.

For his part, Khan accepted both apologies.

Khan, who has been a star in Indian movies and on television for years, is reportedly worth $600 million. He’s appeared in more than 80 Bollywood movies, and is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders.

Photo credit: Getty Images

David Francis was a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2014-2017.

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.