China bans Katy Perry — but not because of her less-than-stellar San Jose performance
But no, the ban doesn’t have anything to do with Chinese officials learning about her subpar performance in San Jose Tuesday night at SAP center. Our critic Jim Harrington had called the concert, as part of Perry’s “Witness” album tour, “the least satisfying dose of sensory overload to come around these parts in years.”
Perry had initially been granted a visa to perform in Shanghai next week, but then Chinese officials were reminded of how she had signaled her support for Taiwan during her performance, Page Six said.
Perry’s actions seemed to take sides in a decades-long conflict between the communist superpower and Taiwan over the latter’s independence.
During the concert, Perry had worn a wore a bright, glittery dress with sunflowers on it. Her outfit caused widespread outrage in China because the sunflower had been adopted the year before by anti-China protesters. During the show, Perry also waved a Taiwanese flag.
“She was initially granted a visa to perform at the (Victoria’s Secret) show in Shanghai, then Chinese officials changed their minds and yanked her visa,” a source told Page Six. “For every artist who wants to perform in China, officials comb through their social-media and press reports to see if they have done anything deemed to be offensive to the country.”
The source pointed out that Maroon 5 was banned a few years ago because one band member wished the Dalai Lama happy birthday on Twitter.
Perry’s rep did not comment on the ban when reached by Page Six. She’ll be replaced at the show by Harry Styles.
But Perry isn’t the only glamour girl to be denied entry to China for the Victoria’s Secret show. Gigi Hadid and other models have also been told they can’t enter the country.
Page Six said Hadid and the other models were likely denied entry due to various social-media posts they had made, which were apparently deemed offensive.
In Hadid’s case, she was likely banned because of an Instagram video, posted in February by her sister Bella Hadid. In the since-deleted video, Gigi Hadid was seen holding up a biscuit shaped like a Buddha; she imitated the religious figure by squinting her eyes.
Chinese social-media users slammed the video and Hadid as racist and warned her not to come to Shanghai.
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