Lady Gaga Alienates Chinese Fans With Dalai Lama Meeting

Lady Gaga is not one to play it close to the vest, and she certainly isn’t likely to guard her actions for fear of how her actions will affect her fans. Such sentiment has been proven by Lady Gaga’s meeting with the 14th Dalai Lama. Gaga surely couldn’t have been blind to what affect such a meeting would have on her reputation among the singer’s vast fandom in mainland China, yet she still proceeded with the event out of a desire to participate in something worthwhile.

“Til It Happens To You” Singer Lady Gaga Plays Host To The Dalai Lama

The meeting between Lady Gaga and the Dalai Lama was prompted by the 84th annual Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis. Following the yearly event, Gaga fielded questions from Facebook users for the Dalai Lama. The 20 minute Q&A session focused on how the issues of mental health contribute to the ills of society in the modern world. Among the first and most common questions to be asked, Lady Gaga presented the Dalai Lama with questions regarding problems of addiction and depression, which ultimately lead to suicide and suicide attempts.

When asked what can be done to improve these situations, the Dalai Lama criticized “society’s way of life” and a “lack of compassion” in the world.

“I feel it’s too much materialistic life — materialistic culture,” said the Dalai Lama. “When you show more sense of concern of others’ well-being, then you also get the feeling, ‘Oh, I am something useful to others.'”

The Tibetan spiritual leader went on to say that it’s up to the younger generations to bring the much needed change to society and create a healthier society. Even in the face of such tragedies as the recent shootings in Orlando, Florida, the Dalai Lama told Lady Gaga that rays of hope and the seeds of positive change can be found.

“Many positive, happy things are there if you look [from a] wider perspective. If you look real closely, it appears unbearable,” he told Lady Gaga. “But if you look widely, [you can see] other positive things there.”

China Reacts To Lady Gaga’s Sit Down With The Dalai Lama

Lady Gaga may soon find that she’s been banned from performing in Chinese venues from this point forward, following her public meeting with the Dalai Lama. While Lady Gaga has long been held in high regard among Chinese music fans, her standing has come into question after showing support for the Dalai Lama, who is viewed by mainland Chinese as a leader of Tibetan separatism.

Even Lady Gaga’s most ardent fans have commented on the meeting between the pop queen and the Dalai Lama, suggesting that she cannot claim ignorance of Chinese politics in this matter. Many fans have tweeted their opinions that Lady Gaga is either “‘stupid’ or ‘ignorant’ on the subject of Chinese political sensitivity, declaring that neither is an appropriate defense for having endorsed the Dalai Lama so publicly.

While Lady Gaga may have lost her ability to connect with her Chinese fans over supporting the Dalai Lama so publicly, she’s not the first western celebrity to have lost Chinese support for supporting the Tibetan spiritual leader. This past April, pop star Selena Gomez cancelled her own concert dates in China; and, although official reasons were never stated, rumors circulated that the singer was forced to cancel the appearances over photos she had shared of herself posing with the Dalai Lama.

Bon Jovi concerts in Shanghai and Beijing were also cancelled with similar rumors surrounding that band’s failure to perform in the country. Previous Bon Jovi gigs had featured the Dalai Lama.

Finally, Maroon 5 cancelled their Shanghai dates after one band member made tweets in support of the Dalai Lama.

Lady Gaga has not yet commented on the criticism of her meeting with the Dalai Lama.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]