'Lebanon bans Gaga album as offensive to Christians'

Flamboyant pop star's top-selling album "Born This Way" reportedly seized by Lebanese security agency upon delivery to country.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Lady Gaga 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Lady Gaga 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
US singer Lady Gaga's latest album "Born This Way" has been banned by Lebanon's General Security for being "offensive to Christianity," Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported on Monday, citing unconfirmed reports.
A shipment of the album to Lebanon was reportedly impounded immediately by General Security upon delivery to the country last week.
According to the report, the track entitled "Judas" on the album has drawn criticism from religious groups. The single, in which Gaga sings "“I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel/But I’m still in love with Judas," was taken off of Lebanese radio playlists in April.
The flamboyant pop star sold more than one million copies of the album in its first week of release to top the US pop chart for the first time, according to sales data published last week by Billboard magazine.
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Fans scooped up 1.11 million copies of her much-hyped release during the week ended May 29, with a bit of help from a hugely popular 99-cent promotion by online retailer Amazon.com Inc .
It marks the biggest first-week sales total since rapper 50 Cent's "The Massacre" debuted to 1.14 million copies in March 2005.
Billboard estimated that Amazon downloads accounted for upward of 440,000 downloads of "Born This Way." Overall digital downloads totaled a record-breaking 662,000 copies, Billboard said.
Lady Gaga records for Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group. Her 2008 debut album "The Fame" peaked at No. 2 and has sold 4.2 million copies to date in the United States. An eight-track follow-up EP titled "The Fame Monster" reached No. 5 and has sold 1.5 million copies.
Reuters contributed to this report.