Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, other celebs banned in China; here's why

Miley Cyrus is touted as the queen of controversy. She often grabs headlines for her sensational twerking act, to risqué tattoos to revealing photoshoots, Cyrus has certainly turned heads and raised eyebrows. On top of that, her rocky love life has kept fans at rapt attention waiting to see how her on-again, off-again relationship with Liam Hemsworth might develop next or who else she has been dating.

It's shocking to find out that one particular photograph was so controversial it got her banned from an entire country. This isn't a recent case, nor has she worn anything w3revealing or raunchy that caused China to close its border to Cyrus. Instead, a decade-old photograph of Miley had landed her into trouble.

Whatever the reason may be behind this picture, Miley surely lost out on a lot of fans!

The controversial picture

As per media reports, Miley had posted a picture with a group of friends and her former Boyfriend Justin Gaston, where they were seen slanting their eyes. Many Chinese Americans took offence to this and demanded a public apology from the singer. While there was an Asian American individual in the photo, the public, especially Chinese Americans, did not receive it well.

Miley defended herself 

She got defensive on her website and wrote through TMZ, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make something out of nothing to me. If that had been anyone else, it would have been overlooked! I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new 'BAD GIRL'!" And with this, her punishment was also harsh as The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China announced the immediate barring of Miley Cyrus from entering the country. The government also banned any broadcast of her TV show, films, and any sales of merchandise.

Miley had apologised

Cyrus and her friends slanted their eyes in a way that was clearly a stereotypical mocking of the Asian man. She has apologised for the photo since then. "I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometimes my actions can be unintentionally hurtful." Apology or not, China still prohibits Cyrus from entering the country.

Other celebs banned in China.

China has previously banned other celebrities such as Björk (for chanting "Tibet" during a performance).

Selena Gomez

In 2014, a similar picture of Selena Gomez along with Dalai Lama went viral on the internet. It left the Chinese government furious who ended up blocking her tours in their country as well. Selena even had multiple concerts in the country around that time but had to remove it all from her website.

 Brad Pitt (for negatively portraying Communist military officers in a film).

Brad Pitt's film Seven Years in Tibet is a French film based on the book by the same name, was not taken too kindly by the government of the People's Republic of China, who felt that the Chinese military officers were shown in a bad light and also did not seem to portray the Chinese's treatment of the Tibetan people too well. China and Tibet have had terse relationships, and since this move seemed to voice pro-Tibetan feelings, the Chinese government seemed to be irked and banned one of the world's greatest actors from entering their country.

Lady Gaga

The singer was banned in the People's Republic of China, specifically the Culture Ministry as her music was viewed as creating confusion in the online music scene and damaging the country's national security. Songs from her album 'Born This Way' were blacklisted including "The Edge of Glory," "Hair," "Marry the Night," "Americano," "Judas" and "Bloody Mary".

The ban was lifted after three years and her new album "ARTPOP" to go on sale legally in China although with many restrictions. The cover of this album has been partially covered with a large balloon to cover the artist's legs, and the title of one song has been changed from Sexxx Dreams" to "X Dreams."

Katy Perry

Katy Perry has been banned too. In 2015, the Fireworks singer was seen wearing a Taiwanese flag during one of her concerts. Katy was scheduled to perform at Victoria's Secret Fashion show next week in Shanghai. Perry was initially granted a visa, but after the controversial concert, they changed their mind.