When it comes to celebrities, it wouldn’t be a crime to say that they live in a world that is a bit different from ours, being that they get special treatment wherever they show their presence. However, it seems that even despite the special treatment and the countless perks, there are still some things that can make these scrutinized individuals lose their temper or do something irrational. And while you would assume that due to their status they would always get away with just a slap on the wrist, in reality, there have been several occasions where despite their wealth and popularity, some of these stars simply had to learn their lesson the hard way. This is what inspired us to sit down and do a little research in order to find the celebrities that were either banned or expelled from some of the biggest casinos in the world.
Considering how tolerant the casinos are when it comes to guests and their tantrums, especially when it involves celebrities who always play with big amounts of cash, it definitely makes you wonder how far these people went to achieve this rather difficult feat. Well, that is what we found out.
Dana White
The list of celebrities that were expelled, or banned by casinos starts with one rather interesting individual, to say the least. Known as the face of the most popular mixed martial arts tournament in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or shortly UFC, it is no surprise that Dana White enjoys a reputation as one of the biggest names in the entire MMA universe. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering that he managed to change the reputation of the UFC from an anonymous tournament, into a business that is now estimated at tens of billions of dollars. Well, while this type of money and status does actually get you by in most instances when it comes to the ever-watchful casinos, even the biggest celebrity can find him or herself out on the street.
In fact, White is one of the very few on this list that openly admits that he is persona non grata not just in one, but in most Las Vegas casinos. Even he refers to himself as the most unwanted by nearly all Las Vegas casinos. The only conflict that was officially documented between White and one of the casinos in Las Vegas, is the incident that occurred at the Palms Casino. More specifically, White, a renounced blackjack player, and highly skilful, for that matter, was making bets at the blackjack table at the Palms that were worth up to $25.000 per bet. Well, it seems like Dana was on a roll since after a while of Mr. White winning, the casino decided to limit his deposits to just $5.000.
Not only did White get absolutely furious at this way of conduct by the casino and immediately left, but he also instructed all the fighters from the UFC to refrain from playing at the Palms Casino for the duration of the ongoing tournament at the time. It seems like this actually worked to an extent, being that just one year after the incident, the Palms Casino invited White back to the casino, only to yet again change their minds and tell him that they have to reduce his deposit limit, i.e. his credit.
Consequently, it most likely all boils down to White just probably being too good at blackjack, since he himself claims that he has been officially banned from four different casinos in Las Vegas, refusing to disclose any specific names. And while the Palms Casino incident further confirms this claim, it looks like White can definitely make a pretty good living just by playing blackjack alone.
Ben Affleck
Unlike White who is probably mostly known by the male population that follows the world of mixed martial arts, Ben Affleck is an a-list celebrity and one of the biggest names in Hollywood, and as such, he is easily one of the most recognizable actors on the planet. Well, you are probably wondering what a household name in Hollywood such as Affleck, one of the biggest celebrities, needs to do in order to get himself banned and expelled from one of the Las Vegas casinos. Believe it or not, he was banned after he was accused of committing a crime that technically isn’t really a crime.
In 2014, Ben Affleck and his spouse, famous actress Jennifer Garner, visited the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas. One day during their stay, Affleck, known for his fondness of blackjack, decided to join a high roller table at the casino where he quickly started to win big amounts of money. However, shortly after the initial success, the casino administrator at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel approached Mr Affleck and asked him to step away from the table. Not only that, but the casino administration informed Affleck that he was also accused of cheating, i.e. card counting, which prompted the casino to outright ban the actor and director from playing at the casino on a permanent basis.
The funny thing about this story is that card counting in blackjack is actually not illegal, but it is rather considered a skill. However, despite this being the case, in most instances, if the casino notices that you are counting cards and winning, then they will most likely do something to prevent you from playing. This clearly was the case with Mr Affleck too, since both the actor and the casino refused to issue an official statement on the matter. Either way, it just goes to show that if you want to count cards at the casino, you should do it as discreetly as possible.
Paris Hilton
If you thought that Paris Hilton is on this list simply because of some minor offence, then boy you are wrong. As a matter of fact, it is safe to say that the heiress of the multi-billion dollar global chain of hotels The Hilton is probably the only celebrity that is officially banned from literally all casinos in Las Vegas. Even more crazy are the reasons why one of the most followed celebrities in the world was banned from one of the largest casinos in Vegas.
The incident that sealed the fate of Hilton in Las Vegas occurred back in 2010, while Paris was staying at the Wynn Hotel. In particular, a police car stopped Hilton at her entourage at the entrance of the Wynn Hotel and prompted by what they deemed to be suspicious behaviour conducted a thorough search. Just a couple of minutes into the search, the Las Vegas PD found several grams of white powder that later showed to be cocaine, hidden in a pack of chewing gum, located in the purse of Mrs. Hilton.
While initially, Hilton denied any connection with the cocaine and even insulted the arresting officers, later in court, not only did she admit that the drugs were indeed hers, but she also issued a formal apology to all police officers involved in the incident.
Soon after the news broke out, the administration of the Bis and the Wynn hotels issued an outright ban for Paris Hilton, prohibiting her from visiting any of the establishments that belong to the casinos, permanently. And it didn’t stop there. Cy Weiss, the boyfriend of Hilton at the time, not only got banned from the same establishments, but he also lost his job at one of the casinos in Las Vegas, after he was deemed an “accomplice of night operations”. Consequently, this shouldn’t come as much of a shock, being that the possession and the use of cocaine, i.e. drugs in the US are prohibited by federal law, and as such punishable to the fullest extent of the law. We just hope that Paris learned her lesson for the future.
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Junior, simply known as Lil Wayne, is easily one of the biggest rappers in the history of the genre, and as a result, is definitely one of the biggest celebrities in the world. I mean, the guy has been making music since he was nine, and he is noted as creating an entire sub-genre in the rap world. Well, all of this popularity can sometimes be a bad thing, especially if you are an alcohol enthusiast such as Mr. Wayne himself.
Similar to Paris Hilton, the incident with the rapper also occurred at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Only unlike the case of Mrs. Hilton, in this instance, there is no official record as to what exactly happened for one of the biggest celebrities in the world to get banned from one of the biggest casinos in Vegas. The only thing we do know is that Lil Wayne was most likely heavily intoxicated and soon started causing trouble at the hotel.
The most widely-spread gossip is that he violated the terms of his parole, and this is why he was asked to leave the casino, however, this hasn’t been actually confirmed, so we should treat it as nothing more than rumours.
What we do actually know, is that due to Wayne being expelled from the Wynn, he was forced to miss out on Drake’s amazing concert afterparty. Today, Lil Wayne is still banned from ever using the services or visiting the establishments of the Wynn Hotel, yet, being that the ban is exclusive to this hotel only, he can still be frequently seen at various casinos in Las Vegas, such as Caesars, for example.
Colby Covington
Hands down, this is the only incident on the list of celebrities who either got expelled or banned from casinos that occurred due to the use of excessive violence. Yet, it still shouldn’t come as much of a surprise if we take into account that we are talking about the welterweight champion at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Colby Covington. I mean, his nickname is “Chaos”, after all. But, all jokes aside, despite Covington being the one who ended up with a ban, the entire story is a bit fishy, to say the least.
The incident happened on the 3rd of March 2019, right before the entrance of the buffet at the Palms Casino. According to eyewitnesses on the scene, as well as several leaked phone videos of the incident, the entire thing started when Covington ran into Kamaru Usman, the current UFC welterweight champion, and his entourage consisting of his manager and one bodyguard by the name of Ali.
Not to get into unnecessary details, the witnesses in the audience said that it was actually the entourage of Usman, especially the bodyguard Ali, who started the fight and provoked Covington. And that while Covington did eventually lose his temper, he wasn’t actually the one who initiated the fight.
Just listen to what Colby himself had to say on this matter in his ESPN interview after the incident:
I’m just trying to get some crab legs. Can’t the man get some crab legs? Can the man, the champ, get some crab legs in peace? All of a sudden low-energy Marty comes, Ali comes and some other Sasquatch and they start pushing and swinging and start putting innocent kids’ lives in danger and a pregnant lady. There’s a pregnant lady, and she’s screaming, ‘I’m pregnant, stop this!’ Ali is still pushing, trying to make a scene. Usman is still trying to scream at me, ‘I’m going to get you!’ And his Sasquatch is trying to throw punches at my friend and trying to punch me. It’s a complete joke.
Colby Covington
Regardless of the numerous witnesses and the phone videos, at the end day it was only Covington who got the worse end of the deal since right after the fight, the Palms Casino outright banned the UFC celebrity and expelled him indefinitely. This is quite unfair to be honest, considering that it always takes two to tango, and the fact that there were two MMA celebrities involved, but only one got banned from one of the largest casinos in the state.
Vince Neil
Never in a million years, did we think that we would see one of the biggest rock and roll legends in history get banned from a casino for probably the most innocent reason out of all on this list: a review. Yes, you read that right, the legendary lead singer of the even more legendary rock band Motley Crew, Vince Neil, was banned from the Las Vegas Palms Casino for writing a series of reviews on Twitter. Needless to state the obvious, the reviews were rather “blunt”, to say the least, which is what eventually forced the casino to outright ban one of rock’s biggest starts.
According to the hotel administration, Mr. Neil used Twitter to write a series of bad reviews about the Palms resort, where he went on to detail both the rudeness of the staff and the overall bad service of the hotel. In particular, he criticized everything starting with the staff and the institution itself, putting special emphasis on the restaurant at the Palms, the Little Buddha, and even telling his fans to avoid the Palms at any cost. Well, this certainly did not go well with the bosses at the Palms resort, and they immediately took proper action to handle the matter.
Not only did they make sure to respond to every single one of the posts made by Neil on Twitter, but they also expelled, and consequently banned the rock star celebrity from ever visiting the premises of their establishments. Soon after hearing this, Neil protested the decision by calling the casino administration at the Palms casino biased and liars, stating that they were making things up in order to make the rock star look like the real culprit.
Interestingly enough, even if you go back to 2012 on Twitter and look for reviews of Neil, you won’t find anything. It is like someone deleted them from the face of the earth, which is something that puts even more mystery as to what Neil actually said in those posts. This then makes you wonder whether one of the biggest celebrities in rock was rightfully banned from one of Vegas’s biggest casinos, or it was well deserved.
Allen Iverson
If you were born in the 90s or earlier, then you probably already know that Allen Iverson was one of the most popular NBA players in the early 2000s, not just in the US, but all across the globe. The main reason why Iverson was so popular was due to the fact that he was one of the most instantly recognizable basketball players both on and off the pitch. For starters, there was his below-average height for the NBA which immediately distinguished him from his peers.
This, in addition to his unique hairstyle, dubbed the Iverson braids, the legendary cross-over against arguably the greatest player in NBA history, Michael Jordan, and the fact that he was the first NBA player to wear an arm sleeve, an accessory considered the norm today, helped turn Iverson into one of the most memorable faces on the face of the earth.
Unfortunately, the celebrity status certainly did not help Iverson to avoid trouble, being that he has been officially banned not from one, but from two different casino establishments. The first case takes us back to 2009, the time when Iverson was first expelled, and then outright banned from ever visiting the premises of the MGM Grand & Greektown Casinos.
Most likely intoxicated, the basketball star first started berating and insulting both the employees and the customers at the casino for reasons unknown. The problems occurred when he got physical and started to attack everyone present with anything that he could grab, ranging from chips to cards and dice. Needless to state the obvious, Mr. Iverson was promptly escorted out of the premises of the MGM Casino and received a very much-deserved lifetime ban.
The second instance of Iverson getting expelled at a casino is a bit more innocent, to put it mildly. More specifically, the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, formerly owned by Donald Trump, accidentally paid Iverson $10.000 for a bet he previously lost. Shortly after the casino noticed that there was a misunderstanding, the casino kindly asked Mr. Iverson to return the $10.000, a request he firmly refused to oblige.
As a result, one of the biggest basketball celebrities in history was forced to leave the casino, and consequently end up banned for life in two different casinos. In an interesting turn of events, today in 2022, the owners of the Taj Mahal are exactly MGM, the first casino to expel Iverson, which really makes you wonder if there are any coincidences in this world.
