HOLY MOLY

Dalai Lama Allegedly Pointed at ‘Fat’ Cameraman and Told Him to ‘Go on a Diet’

The spiritual leader apparently gave the unsolicited advice after finishing an interview.

At the end of a television interview, the Dalai Lama once pointed at a cameraman to tell him he was fat and needed to go on a diet, according to a journalist. British broadcaster Cathy Newman recounted the incident on an episode of the podcast Walking the Dog with Emily Dean released Tuesday. “It was very funny,” Newman said. “I had this cameraman called Graham who sadly died not that many years afterwards—it was very sad—but he was a little bit rotund. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying.” In their interview on Channel 4 in 2013, the Dalai Lama condemned Buddhist violence against Muslims. “At the end of the interview, the Dalai Lama pointed at [Graham] and said: ‘You’re fat, you need to go on a diet,’” Newman said. She said the cameraman was left “open-mouthed in astonishment at this rudeness from the Dalai Lama.” “I thought it was hilarious,” Newman added.