Singer and actress Lady Gaga is the latest person to be added to the list of hostile foreign forces by the Communist Party of China, which effectively bans her from the country.
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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.
According to the Apple Daily (a Hong Kong-based newspaper), Chinese media organizations were ordered to stop promoting and distributing her music, and state-owned news outlets were told to denounce the meeting.
During a press conference on Monday, an Agence France-Presse correspondent asked Hong Lei, China foreign ministry spokesman, if Lady Gaga’s meeting with the Dalai Lama would cause a “bad romance” between her and China.
According to the correspondent, Lei asked “Who?” before moving on to another topic. (That is one effective, immediate ban!)
The nation’s capital, Beijing, was not pleased by the meeting either, and called the spiritual leader a “wolf in monk’s robes” who’s seeking to separate the Himalayan region from the rest of China.
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An official transcript of the press conference appears to have been edited, with all mentions of Lady Gaga completely erased.
The Dalai Lama was exiled from Tibet in March 1959, and insists his only goal is to seek more autonomy for Tibetans.
China has already banned other musical artists, including Bjork, Oasis and Maroon 5, for their work supporting Tibet’s independence. Lady Gaga has not commented on the ban.
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