Selena Gomez shows in China have been cancelled due to having a picture with Dalai Lama. Photo / AP
New Zealand Herald, 20 April 2016
Selena Gomez has reportedly been banned from performing in China due to her association with the Dalai Lama.
The Come & Get It singer had announced earlier this month that she would be playing two concerts in China as part of her Revival tour, which begins in May in the U.S.
However, her concerts in Guangzhou and Shanghai on 6 and 8 August have since been removed from her website.
The shows have been cancelled because Chinese authorities have allegedly blocked Selena from performing in the country because of her connection to the spiritual leader, according to a report in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper.
Selena posted a picture on social media in 2014 showing her meeting the Dalai Lama, who has been an unpopular figure in China since he fled to India and established a Tibetan government.
In the snap, which was taken from an event in Canada, a seated Selena is tilting her head back and smiling at the leader as he touches the back of her head and chin and looks down upon her. In the caption, she wrote, “words of wisdom. #speechless.”
Selena would not be the first music act to be blocked from China for an association with the Dalai Lama – Bon Jovi’s gigs in September, 2015 were scrapped because they reportedly used a picture of the exiled Buddhist leader during a concert in Taiwan back in 2010.
Maroon 5’s concerts in Shanghai and Beijing were reportedly cancelled last year after band member Jesse Carmichael sent the spiritual leader a birthday tweet.
In 2013, Selena had to cancel two concerts in Russia when immigration officials denied her visa application.
Reports suggested they were concerned she would use her shows to speak out against the country’s anti-gay legislation.
Words of wisdom. #speechless. Photo / Selena Gomez
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