Lady Gaga Is Reportedly Banned In China

There wasn't much applause from China after Lady Gaga met with the Dalai Lama on Sunday in Indianapolis. The American pop star and the spiritual leader met to discuss a movement and initiative for more love and happiness around the world, but in turn, Chinese leaders expressed their anger with Gaga and the fact that the meeting happened at all, as well as their disdain for the Dalai Lama, which extends almost 60 years. And according to multiple sources, the result is a ban on Gaga's music catalogue throughout the Chinese mainland.

This kind of reaction isn't uncommon in China. And honestly, considering the authoritarian state, there isn't much else to expect. In recent years, Chinese officials have banned other music greats like Maroon 5, Bjork, and Oasis for their meetings with or mere mentions of the Dalai Lama.

This isn't even the first time Gaga herself has been banned from China in one form or another. In 2011, Gaga and Katy Perry had their work censored from China's music downloading sites for "poor taste and vulgar content," along with Guns N' Roses and Simple Plan. With China's history of banishments, one can assume that Gaga knew exactly what might happen, and she's a badass for that.

The Chinese coverage of the meeting makes it seem as though the government is trying to forget that it happened or delete it from history, just like with the Dalai Lama. During a regularly scheduled press conference with the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei, a China correspondent for CCTV tweeted that a question regarding Gaga's meeting was asked, but the official report reads no indication of such question. Following her meeting with the Dalai Lama, the Communist party reportedly distributed "an important instruction" to ban all her music, according to reports from The Guardian and Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper.

According to CNN, former fans of Gaga took to Weibo, China's version of Twitter, saying things like, "It's all over for Lady Gaga, a nation trumps an idol," and, "I used to like Lady Gaga so much, but not a fan anymore!"

The sad thing about all of this is that the exact reason for the deeply important conversation, discussing meditation, mental health, yoga, love, and happiness, brought about more hate and insecurity that the world just doesn't need right now.

Gaga has yet to comment on her banishment (Bustle has reached out to her rep, but has not yet heard back), but I have a feeling her relationship with the Dalai Lama will be more important to her than album sales.