Kanye and Bianca Censori banned from Venice taxi-boat company

If Italy has a problem with rude tourists, Venice has twice as much. Among the boldest of visitors, it is a trend to dive into the canals, get photographed naked (Helmut Newton started this trend), and generally behave as if they were in a large amusement park. Recently, however, Kanye West and Bianca Censori took the trend one step further: scandal broke out when photographs of the two of them aboard a taxi-boat in Venice were published that showed Ye in a compromising position, with his pants down and derrière exposed, while Censori appeared to be kneeling between his legs in full view of tourists and passersby. The photos quickly went viral online and the incident prompted a swift reaction from the boat company, Venezia Turismo Motoscafi, which has served celebrity clientele in the past, including Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, and Ben Affleck. In a statement released shortly after the incident, the Venezia Turismo Motoscafi company expressed strong disapproval of the couple's behavior and announced their immediate ban on future trips. «We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behavior», said the company's statement. «Mr. West and his wife will no longer be welcome aboard our company's boats». 

The statement clarified that the boat driver had not witnessed the lewd acts as he was focused on navigating the channels and ensuring the safety of the passengers. In a video posted on Twitter, however, it can be seen that the driver was standing talking on the phone and the boat was stationary when the incident took place. The company also mentioned the presence of a third person on board, a woman also seen in other photos who accompanied the couple on all of their summer trips, who obstructed the captain's view of the accident by sitting between the command post and the back of the vehicle. The controversy did not stop with the boat company's decision. Many online users argue that Kanye West and Bianca Censori should even be sued since Italian law says that «whoever, in a public place or open or exposed to the public, performs obscene acts shall be punished by imprisonment from three months to three years. Whoever, in a public place or open or exposed to the public, performs obscene acts is subject to a fine of 5,000 to 30,000 euros».