Nigella Lawson is stopped from flying to the US following her confession to having taken cocaine – but the US embassy says the matter should be handled “expeditiously”.
The celebrity chef was barred from boarding a flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Los Angeles on the weekend, the Daily Mail reported.
An eyewitness told the newspaper that Ms Lawson, attempted to board a British Airways flight on Sunday morning but was turned away.
Earlier that day Ms Lawson had tweeted that she was “packing for my holiday”. She has since tweeted that she was going to be “offline” while enjoying “the ultimate: a holiday break with no signal”.
However, on Thursday the US embassy in London said it understood that Ms Lawson has “professional requirements for US travel”.
A spokeswoman said: “There are several ways of legally travelling into the United States and Ms Lawson has been invited to come to the embassy and apply for a visa for travel to the US.
“We understand she has professional requirements for US travel and these matters are generally handled routinely and expeditiously, so stand by.”
Off line for a while enjoying the ultimate; a holiday break with no signal! Will miss you all though. Know I will be eating on your behalf
— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) March 31, 2014
Details of Ms Lawson’s drug use emerged in the trial of her and her ex-husband Charles Saatchi’s personal assistants.
The chef told jurors that she took cocaine with her late husband John Diamond when he found out he had terminal cancer, and again in 2010 when she claimed she was being “subjected to intimate terrorism” by Mr Saatchi.
Police reviewed the allegations of drug use made during the trial but Scotland Yard said no further action would be taken.
However, US officials have the right to deny entrance to the US even if someone has not been convicted of a drug offence.
The US Department of Homeland Security told the Mail that foreigners who had admitted drug taking were deemed “inadmissible”.
A spokesman for Ms Lawson said: “We would never comment on Nigella’s travel plans.”
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