The Dalai Lama has received major backlash over controversial sexist comments he made about a potential female successor having to be “attractive.”

In a recent interview with the BBC, the 83-year-old Buddhist leader said he's open to the possibility that his successor could be female, but only if she's pretty because if not, people won't want to look at her face.

“If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive,” he said while laughing and scrunching up his face. “People, I think, prefer not to see that face.”

He then went on to say a makeup budget would also help if a woman is, in fact, chosen after him. “I think there’s an opportunity to ask whether [a female successor] can spend some money on make-up,” he continued.

When the interviewer, Rajini Vaidyanathan, pointed out that his comments could be hurtful toward women and aren't reflective of his past teachings about inner confidence and beauty, the Dalai Lama responded by saying inner and outer beauty are equally important to Buddhism.

“A lot of women would say that’s objectifying women, it’s about who you are on the inside,” Vaidyanathan said.

“Yes, I think both,” he replied.

This isn't the first time Dalai Lama has spoken about wanting an attractive successor. In 2015, he told BBC that an unattractive female Dalai Lama “would not be much use.”

Understandably, many Twitter users weren't impressed with his controversial views:

Elsewhere in his interview, the Dalai Lama also slammed Donald Trump's moral compass, revealing the president needs to take global responsibility instead of solely focusing on America's needs.

"One day he says something, another day he says something, but I think lack of moral principle," he said. "When he became president, he expressed America first. That is wrong America...should take a global responsibility."

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