Lady Gaga Banned From Chinese Air Waves Following Interview With Dalai Lama, Finally Earns License
Lady Gaga recently had the opportunity to interview the Dalai Lama while he visited the United States this week. Us Weekly relays that the pop star chatted with the Tibetan leader in a nearly 20-minute broadcast that happened live on Facebook.
Lady Gaga angers Chinese fans by meeting the Dalai Lama https://t.co/JJDIrg9AfY
— TIME.com (@TIME) June 28, 2016
On Monday a correspondent for Agence France Presse asked China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei if he thought Gaga’s presence and interview with the Dalai Lama would stir up issues between her and China.
The publication shares Lei’s response to the question posed.
“The purpose of [the Dalai Lama’s] visits and activities in other countries is just to promote his proposal for Tibetan independence. We hope that people from the international community can be fully aware of his true colors and nature.”
China has since banned Gaga from the airwaves and the pop star has yet to comment on the ban. Since the weekend, Gaga’s video has reached more than 3 million views on Twitter and Facebook pages. Additional celebrities to have been banned for similar initiatives and contact with the Dalai Lama include Bon Jovi, Maroon 5 and Bjork.
Global News relays more on the subject matter that Gaga and the Dalai Lama discussed during their 19-minute interview.
“Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, met with the Dalai Lama, 81, on Sunday to discuss yoga in a talk that lasted 19 minutes (as evidenced by a video Germanotta posted to Facebook). The pair conversed about mental health, meditation and ways to “detoxify” humanity, with the overall goal of establishing peace and wellness throughout the world.”
Since the chat between the two, Chinese media organizations have been ordered to stop any promotion an distribution of Lady Gaga’s music and state-owned news outlets were instructed to denounce the meeting between the two. Interestingly, Lei responded with a simple “Who?” when asked about a possible “bad romance” between Gaga and China. The Chinese bans are some serious and immediate business, as it turns out.
Members of the capital of China, Beijing, were also not pleased by the meeting between Gaga and the Tibetan leader, referring to the spiritual leader as a “wolf in monk’s robes” who is attempting to separate the Himalayan area from the remainder of China.
A transcript that was released based on the press conference seems to have no trace of Gaga’s name anywhere throughout it, as her name has been entirely erased from its pages.
The history and tension between China and the spiritual leader has been ongoing since the Dalai Lama was exiled from Tibet in March 1959. He notes that his one goal is “to seek more autonomy for Tibetans.”
Although Lady Gaga has been banned from an entire nation, the singer at least has something to celebrate. At 30, Gaga has finally gotten her license to drive. The singer took to social media to share her excitement about finally being able to drive on her own, without an “adult” present.
“After years of driving w an adult present…IM FREE! Rollin w the homies [sic].”
.@ladygaga finally gets her driver’s license at 30 https://t.co/8vTVVynGY2 pic.twitter.com/DyRI5hBTuL
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) July 2, 2016
Although most people attain this milestone in their teens, Gaga was born in the big city where she was accustomed to not really needing a car to get around. Although the singer is celebrating now, back when she was still learning to drive, she was sure to tweet about the annoyance that goes along with driving and contending with paparazzi. Today notes a 2012 tweet by the singer.
“Maybe while I’m learning to drive you don’t need to sneak up on me and stick your GIANT camera IN A MOVING VEHICLE.”
That would certainly add a whole other learning curve to the challenge of getting behind the wheel.
[Photo by Jonathan Short/AP Images]
