Chris Brown denied Down Under visit due to Rihanna beating conviction

Punching your girlfriend is always a bad idea, and Chris Brown continues to learn that bad ideas have consequences.

Brown canceled plans for a Down Under tour yesterday after Australian authorities earlier warned the troubled R&B singer they were likely to refuse him a visa because of his criminal conviction for assaulting Rihanna.

In a statement, Brown thanked his fans and said he remained hopeful he could tour "in the near future." Fans who purchased tix would get refunds.

In September, Australia's Immigration Department issued Brown a "notice of intention to consider refusal," which gave him 28 days to explain why he should be allowed into the country.

That notice came days after former Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash urged authorities to refuse Brown a visa on character grounds.

"People need to understand, if you are going to commit domestic violence and then you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you: 'You cannot come in because you are not of the character we expect in Australia,' " Cash, who is now minister for women, told reporters at the time.

* Taylor Swift had no trouble getting into Australia.

Her "1989" World Tour ends there on Dec. 12.

To celebrate, Swift took all 125 people of her tour band and crew on vacation to Hamilton Island, in Queensland.

If you can't be Oprah's BFF, Taylor's BFF is a heckuva deal.

* Todd Haynes' 1950s lesbian romance "Carol" dominated the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, taking best picture and a leading four awards overall.

The New York critics voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Patricia Highsmith adaption starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It also awarded the film best director for Haynes, best screenplay for Phyllis Nagy and best cinematography for Edward Lachman.

Best actor went to Michael Keaton, for "Spotlight." Saoirse Ronan earned best actress for her performance in "Brooklyn."

* A museum dedicated to "A Christmas Story" has acquired the holy grail of movie memorabilia: a Red Ryder BB gun wielded by Ralphie in the holiday film.

The Cleveland house where exteriors for the 1983 movie were shot already draws thousands of tourists year round. Now visitors to the adjacent museum will get to lay eyes on the Christmas gift Ralphie longed for most of all: the "Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time."

Brian Jones, the owner of the house and museum, paid $10,000 for it on an Internet auction site. It was one of six special models produced for the movie by Daisy, the company that makes Red Ryder guns.

* A Turkish court overseeing the case of doctor Bilgin Ciftci, who's accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has ruled that a committee of experts should assess whether the fictional "Lord of the Rings" character Gollum is good or bad.

Guess Turkey isn't too worried about ISIS or Putin if it has time for this nonsense.

Ciftci faces up to two years in prison for allegedly juxtaposing pictures of Gollum and Erdogan on social media.

And that's what's great about America. If someone who didn't like President Obama called him Gollum, not only wouldn't that person go to jail, it would probably be the nicest thing the person ever called Obama.

* Because pornography always drives technology, VirtualPorn360.com, is this week launching a streaming media player for Cardboard glasses. This new format provides the user the possibility to view the videos with the most affordable virtual-reality headset on the market.

The format allows the user to experience virtual reality porn without any other requirement than a smartphone that fits the image viewer. It is not necessary to use any special tool, although anyone looking at porn through Cardboard glasses thinks his tool is already special.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

Email: gensleh@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5678

On Twitter: @DNTattle