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Russia Bans 500 Americans from Entering Country, Including Obama and Late-Night Hosts

ByAlki David

May 21, 2023

Russia has announced that they have banned 500 U.S. citizens from entering the country, including former President Barack Obama. This ban has been put in place as retaliation for the latest round of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States.

The Russian foreign ministry announced that this list of banned individuals included late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers, former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Senator J.D. Vance, and CNN Anchor Erin Burnet. The list, which was introduced on Friday, includes U.S. citizens from a range of professions.

In addition to the ban, Russia also refused to grant the United States’ latest request for consular access to a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on suspicion of spying. This move was in response to the U.S. refusing to issue visas to Russian media traveling to the United Nations with Sergei Lavrov, the country’s foreign minister.

Russia’s foreign ministry made it clear that they would not stand for any hostile attacks against the country. “Washington should have learned a long time ago that not a single hostile attack on Russia will go unpunished,” the ministry stated.

This decision by Russia to ban 500 U.S. citizens, including former President Obama and other notable figures, marks a significant escalation in the ongoing tensions between the two countries. It is not yet clear how the United States will respond to this latest move by Russia.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.