Celebs in the News: Lady Gaga's Born This Way Banned In Lebanon

Officials have reportedly impounded copies of Gaga's latest disc, calling it 'offensive to Christianity.'
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty

On Monday night, Lady Gaga attended the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards in New York City, where she accepted the Fashion Iconprize.

Donning a green wig and a black dress with mesh and spikes, the superstar opened up about her love of fashion and how it shaped her as an artist.

"All of you made me feel like a star before I was," she told the CFDA crowd at Lincoln Center, where guests included fashion luminaries like Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, and onetime star of MTV's "The City," Diane von Furstenberg. She continued, "As much as this award means to me personally ... I just want you to know how much this means to young Americans."

Gaga will continue to show support for her fans when she makes an appearance in Italy on Saturday at Rome's Circus Maximus to mark the close of 2011 Euro Pride.

U.S. Ambassador to Italy David Thorne said he is "very proud to have an Italian-American artist of [Gaga's] stature'' attending the Euro Pride festivities, which are held in a different European city every year. He added that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, "Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights."

It's not all love for Gaga, however. According to The Guardian, officials in Lebanon have banned Born This Way, describing it as "offensive to Christianity." The office of general security reportedly impounded copies of the chart-topping album when it arrived at the airport in Beirut. "Distributors are prohibited from circulating media that diverges from public decency and morality or is at odds with nationalistic or religious beliefs," officials told The Guardian.

Despite the report, Lebanon's information ministry insists that it "is, and always has been, against all forms of censorship." The Los Angeles Times reported that the Lebanese office of general security confirmed "[copies of the album] are still in our offices. We are still deciding what to do with them."

What do you think of Born This Way being banned overseas? Tell us in the comments.

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