His song "Gangnam Style" became the most watched video in YouTube history, but when it comes to smoking, Psy shies away from international attention. Psy is reportedly ashamed of his cigarette habit and tried to hide it while attending a pre-party for the White House Correspondents' Dinner this past weekend.

A large bodyguard attempted to get in the way of any pictures of him lighting up cigarettes or smoking, while his handlers told photographers that "Psy doesn't want his picture taken while smoking a cigarette." One handler reportedly told a colleague that, "Scooter [Braun, Psy's manager] told me if this f*cks up, I'm done."

Washingtonian Editor-at-Large Carol Joynt also reported that the pop star's sole request for a hotel room was one where he would be allowed to smoke. He was able to find a room at an undisclosed location in the Georgetown area that accomodated this.

His attempts to keep his habit under-the-radar haven't always been a success: last year, Psy was snapped smoking a cigarette in front of a no-smoking sign after a show in Toronto. He was also arrested in 2001 for possession of marijuana and is notoriously touchy about the subject; when Australian radio station Fox FM tried to bring it up in an interview last October, he walked out and reportedly told producers that he would no longer do press with the network "or any affiliates."

Psy is currently in the US doing promotional work for his most recent single "Gentleman." Since being released two weeks ago, it's racked up overy 250 million views on YouTube and broken several records on the video channel, including most views in a single day and shortest amount of time tor reach 100 million views.

However, the song still has a long way to go before matching the success of "Gangnam Style." That song has over 1.5 billion views on the channel and remains the most watched video in YouTube history.