Kuwait City – American comedian turned actor Eddie Griffin has been banned from entering Kuwait over his “defamation of Islam”.

He was scheduled to perform a Stand-Up Comedy routine on the 27th of October at The Ice Skating Rink, in Kuwait City. Tickets were priced at KD 15 and KD50.

Born in 1968, Griffin has built an ever-growing fan base since jumping onto the comedy scene in 1990.

He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman on the sitcom Malcolm and Eddie and the title character in the 2002 comedy film Undercover Brother. He also played Pope Sweet Jesus in Norbit.

An official security official confirmed that Griffin would be denied entry to the Kuwaiti territories.

The Minister of Interior, as well as the undersecretary, have issued instructions to all border points to enforce the ban in response to online calls to deny Griffin entry to the country.

Hashtag calling for the ban was the highest trending in Kuwait, as the anti-Griffin Twitter campaign was joined by leading public figures, MPs and other officials, branding the US comedian as being “atheist”.

Known for deriding religions, Griffin feature in video clips as he was mocking the Hijab and the inability of the man who proposes to a woman to see his future wife. He made many other sarcastic comments deemed “sacrilegious an atheistic”.