Radio host Charlamagne tha God slammed the Dalai Lama this week after a video went viral over the weekend showing the 87-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader kissing a young boy on the mouth earlier this year in northern India.
The incident happened in February in the hillside city of Dharamshala during an event for the M3M Foundation, a philanthropy group started by an Indian real estate company.
After the Dalai Lama kissed the boy, he stuck out his tongue and told the boy to “suck my tongue.”
“I saw them say that’s Tibetan culture. That people stick their tongue out as a sign of respect,” Charlamagne said on The Breakfast Club. “But ain’t nobody saying that you gotta ask the little boy to suck your tongue. That’s a whole different ballgame.”
Charlamagne said that it was an understatement to call the incident simply “inappropriate.”
“The Dalai Lama wanted to get sucked by a little boy. You should call it what it is,” Charlamagne said. “The kiss on the lips. That’s not a relative of yours. That’s not your child, you know what I mean? And then, to just stick your tongue out. ‘Suck my tongue.’”
“It’s an 87-year-old man talking to a kid who’s so young that they had to blur his face out, and then you put out an apology. It’s just a simple apology. Like that’s just normal behavior?” he continued. “They don’t got no child services in Tibet?”
A statement was posted to the Dalai Lama’s Twitter account, which has 19 million followers, apologizing for the incident.
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“A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug,” the statement said. “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 continued. “He regrets the incident.”
Related: CNN Panelist Defends Dalai Lama Telling Young Boy To ‘Suck My Tongue’: ‘Nothing Sexual’