The Dalai Lama has issued an apology after a video surfaced of him asking a young boy to “suck [his] tongue” as he kissed him on the mouth.
The video was captured at a public event in February at the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamshala, India. Roughly 100 young graduates from the Indian M3M Foundation were in attendance.
In the now-viral video, one such student can be seen approaching the Dalai Lama and asking him for a hug.
The 87-year-old spiritual leader then motions to his cheek and says, “First here.” The boy kisses and hugs him.
The Dalai Lama then says, “I think here also,” and kisses the child on his lips.
“And suck my tongue,” the Dalai Lama says next, after which he sticks out his tongue and presses his forehead against the forehead of the boy.
The child sticks out his tongue in response before pulling away from the Dalai Lama, who then hugs the boy again. The Dalai Lama then speaks about “peace and happiness” before embracing the child one final time and releasing him.
As the video spread across social media, many described it as “disgusting,” “inappropriate,” and “scandalous,” as reported by The Guardian.
An official response posted on the Dalai Lama’s Twitter page reads, “His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.”
“His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,” the statement continues. “He regrets the incident.”
This controversy made waves across Twitter as various public figures shared their thoughts.
“Who the hell is defending the Dalai Lama? He’s outed himself as a sick pervert — apparently one with pedophilic instincts,” said journalist and media personality Megyn Kelly. “Disgusting!”
Even rapper Cardi B weighed in on the incident, saying, “The world is full of predators.”
“They prey on the innocent. The ones who are most unknowing, our children,” she continued. “Constantly talk with your kids about boundaries and what they shouldn’t allow people to do to them.”
However, supporters of the Dalai Lama have defended him and claimed that Westerners condemning his actions simply misunderstand Tibetan culture.
“Expression of emotions and manners today has been melted together and become vividly westernised,” tweeted Tibetan activist Namdol Lhagyari. “Bringing in narrative of other cultures, customs and social influence on gender and sexuality to interpret Tibetan way of expression is heinous.”
Dawa Tsering, a member of the Tibetan Parliament, said it “was part of a joke or just a play with the kid, so we should not go more than that,” according to Fox News.
The current and 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the foremost spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He has lived in exile in India since Tibet was annexed by China in 1959.