Lady Gaga’s second album, Born This Way, remained top of the UK charts after record-breaking first-week sales, but the singer’s latest release won’t be charting in Lebanon, where it has been banned.
Thousands of copies of the album have been impounded by authorities in the Middle Eastern country, with the country’s General Secretary Department making its decision “on grounds of bad taste”.
Gaga’s provocative music has fallen foul of the Lebanese censors before – her single, Judas, was banned from being played on Lebanese radio stations because of its potential to offend Christians.
It’s not like Lebanon is the only country to balk at some of Gaga’s offerings, either. The title track from her album, Born This Way, was also banned from Malaysia’s airwaves, radio stations running the risk of being fined the equivalent of £10,000 for playing the song, which has a distinct gay rights subtext.
Gaga hit back: “What I would say is for all the young people in Malaysia that want those words to be played on the radio, it is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard.”
She continued in the YouTube interview: “You must do everything that you can if you want to be liberated by your society. You must call, you must not stop, you must protest peaceably.”
