Much like Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Hilary Swank, Mariah Carey has become entangled in an international controversy after Mariah was paid to perform for a despot. Human Rights Watch – who have become really good at getting people to write about celebrities and their associations to tyrants, dictators, despots and crooks – issued yet another slam against Mariah this week. This isn’t even the first time Mariah has caught the eye of Human Right Watch – they slammed her back in 2008 when she was paid to perform for the Khadafy family (which was what Beyonce did several years ago too). This time around, Mariah got $1 million to perform for Angolan despot Josè Eduardo dos Santos:
All she wants for Christmas is more cash from a dictator. Curvy diva Mariah Carey performed a two-hour concert for Angola despot Josè Eduardo dos Santos on Sunday for more than $1 million — after apologizing in 2008 for performing for Moammar Khadafy’s family, according to the Human Rights Foundation.
“Mariah Carey can’t seem to get enough dictator cash,” said Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen in a statement. “Just five years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy. Now, she goes from private performances to public displays of support and credibility for one of Africa’s chief human rights violators and most corrupt tyrants.”
Carey’s show was sponsored by Unitel, a mobile-phone company owned by dos Santos’ daughter, Isabel. She is also the head of the Angolan Red Cross, which the gala benefited.
“It is the sad spectacle of an international artist purchased by a ruthless police state to entertain and whitewash the father-daughter kleptocracy that has amassed billions in ill-gotten wealth while the majority of Angola lives on less than $2 a day,” said Halvorssen.
Carey posed for a picture with the African dictator, his daughter and his wife. “I am happy to be here in this room and I am honored to share this show with the President of Angola,” Carey said at the gala, according to the Human Rights Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on protecting and promoting human rights globally.
The Dos Santos are the only billionaires in Angola and have reigned since 1979. Dos Santos has ordered the execution of many politicians, journalists and activists who defy his rule. His family has allegedly “exploited oil and diamond wealth to build total control over all branches of the government, the military, and the courts,” according to the HRC.
When Carey was shamed along with Beyonce for performing for Khadafy’s family she released a statement promising to be more careful about whom she belts it for.
“I was naive and unaware of who I was booked to perform for,” she said at the time. “I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess. Ultimately we as artists are to be held accountable. Going forward, this is a lesson for all artists to learn from. We need to be more aware and take more responsibility regardless of who books our shows.”
Carey’s spokesperson has not responded yet to a request for comment.
Fool me once… you better learn your lesson. If this was Mariah’s first time, I’d say that she should just take the knock, donate the money and get her manager to do more research before agreeing to these gigs. But this is the second time that HRW has publicly called her out. It’s a problem. A Jennifer Lopez-sized problem. And don’t even start with “it was for a charity gala” – Mariah was GETTING PAID! She got paid $1 million! When Beyonce was called out for performing for Hannibal Khadafy, she later admitted that she took the $1 million she got for the performance and donated it to The Clinton Foundation. Will Mimi do the same?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Apparently “All I Want for Christmas is You” sold its millionth download in the UK this week and that song *alone* has generated £30 million in worldwide royalties, so it’s not like she needs the cash!
Sigh…
She likes the cash though. I don’t think it matters to her who pays her as long as she gets paid.
You’ve got it exactly right blue marie. It’s just never enough. Anyway please – as if she’s ever had any values or ethics – she doesn’t give a crap about human rights. The only way she’ll adapt is if it hits the botton line
Greed. The more you have, the more you want to have.
one milion dollar sounds less for an artist like Mariah,i bet she was payed more
I think you meant to spell it “Gadhafi”
You would think they would get that right.
I could be wrong about this, but I don’t believe there’s a standardized romanization for Arabic. I’ve seen it spelled Gaddafi, Khadafi, Qadafi….
No, you’re right. The version used in the post is correct, as are the others you listed
I don’t understand these celebrities. None of them need the money to survive, and it’s so freaking easy these days to do a few minutes of research before agreeing to perform.
Put simply, I don’t think certain celebrities particularly care so long as they’re getting paid outrageous amounts of money for very little effort on their part. The reward for them outweighs any sense of morality.
I really don’t get why these celebrities are given such a hard time for preforming for these dictators. They are not responsible for the actions of these men or have any power to change anything or bring democracy or give their countrymen any relief. What exactly will be achieved with them not preforming for certain people? They are performers who are getting paid to do a job, they don’t owe the moral or human rights police anything IMO. They are not in any way or form doing anything illegal or inhuman IMO.
Are you familiar with the term “boycott”? It’s a popular concept these days, you know.
And again what exactly this’boycott’ will achieve? Nothing, also why are we expecting these private citizens to boycott dictators when our own PM and presidents don’t boycott them, those with political power to do something or bring change are selling weapons to these dictators, buying oil and doing other lucrative business deals. Nobody have a problem with this but we are so quick to judge some celebrity dancing for a dictator for an evening. I think moral police needs to concentrate on much bigger sharks then any celerity IMO.
Look up HOW they get the wealth, who dies, who suffers for them to HAVE the money to pay celebs … are you stupid?
hadleyb
No I’m not stupid, I just don’t judge others for making decisions that to some extent we all make in our day to day lives. Yes this is blood money but nothing will make a difference to these dictators and how they make their money whether any celebrity performs for them or not. As far as blood money is concerned, do you protest USA buying oil form these dictators or selling weapons to them which are then used to maintain these regimes? Do you protest about sweatshops that are used by most supermarket brands or do you go along your life consuming products of modern day slavery? It’s very easy to sit and judge others while not applying those standards to yourself. Our countries invest, do businesses and sell weapons to these regimes. Be appalled by that before throwing shade at a private citizen who have no power to affect anything in these countries imo.
I didn’t say that only celebrities should boycot them, not high-rank politicians… It’s obvious. And of course they don’t do anything illegal by performing for them, they just receive money coming from violence against citizens country like Angola or Libya. If a company doesn’t respect their employees’ law, I won’t buy their products. If a president or a minister doesn’t criticize that company, that’s another matter.
Wouldn’t a boycott involve not GIVING dictators money,and nothing to do with not TAKING a dictator’s money???
blood money
that’s why.
+1.
Sums it up nicely.
You are entitled to your opinion but WTF? As a global community it always matters who you involve yourself with, do business with etc…So, if hitler was alive and she performed for him…would that be ok? if your friend wanted to do business with the perv who molested your child , would that be ok? There is nothing worse than the people who stand around and do nothing, and stand for nothing…..hence the holocaust.
That’s my point, the global community stands for nothing. We do business with dictators but then go ahead and judge few celebrities who preform for someone for a day. We buy their oil, we sell them weapons, we consider them our allies, we use, buy products manufactured by sweatshops, we have no right to judge any celebrity when we engage in economic activities with these dictators ourselves. This is double standards IMO. The moral police needs look at themselves also before pointing goobers at others.
Celebrity excuses are laughable. As if they don’t have enough staff or hangers on that can advise them about who they’re performing for.
But in the end such celebrities rely on the power of the mob to earn more millions because even though we are brainwashed to believe in the individual, society is sheep-like or, rather, lemming like.
She may sing for the most deplorable dictator or war criminal and still, she will have a high percentage of demented fans buying up her tripe.
Boy you really don’t get it, do you? It’s people like you that enable this kind if behavior to he glossed over and justified.
Sorry, but there is a HUGE difference between being a consumer of goods made in a third world country and celebrating dictators and gushing about what am honor it is to get paid to perform for a mass murderer.
Can you really be that vapid??
i wonder if she takes the despots money and donate it back to the despots’s citizens. although on the other hand the despot will just tax his citizens more or worse.
Most celebrities don’t even have a high school education. I seriously doubt this woman reads the news–aand maybe doesn’t even know what a dictator is.
Maybe, but I don’t think she goes out of her way to find out either. Ignorance is bliss – just collect that big fat cheque, Mariah.
Bad karma…..
really shameless.
Wasn’t she also just slammed, very recently, for performing in Nigeria as well? And, no, she doesn’t need the money. The greed is sickening.
Why was she slammed for performing in NIGERIA . I am NIGERIAN by the way
She doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself, that has been apparent for decades. Even if someone sat her down & carefully explained that the situation, using very small words, she wouldn’t give a damn.
I really wonder why Mariah Carey would do this. Is she that greedy? Or that hard up for money?
Because she and all the other celebs that look at dictators as cash cows are lacking a conscience.
Of course she did. I don’t know why anyone is surprised. Mariah is greedy and loves being the centre of attention. Give her the opportunity to make lots of cash and have all eyes on her and she will jump on it. People like her don’t care how the people giving her the money got it or who suffers to make these people rich. It’s all about the money, even though she doesn’t need it. It’s all about ego and greed.
I hate her. She is gross, her singing is gross, her clothes are gross and her personality is beyond ugly
Thank you for this. I find it refreshing and uplifting to come across someone who thinks about her with the same disdain as I do. She is a horrid, horrid woman.
Gross, that’s the right word for her.
The money will go to somewhere else, maybe through buying guns, ect…
I will take the money and then give it back entirely to the poorer of the country…like building a school or an hospital in a slump area and pay doctors for free with free medecines for the people.
It’s their money the government is stealing. At least she can officially take back part of it through her singing to funnel it back to the people instead of this money being used to build villa or buy guns for the ruling party.
The fact that the Duck guy’s personal opinions about homosexuality are being talked about all over the news and social media and the blogs, while Mariah Carey performing for human rights abusers gets totally ignored by the same people (except Celebitchy!) is very telling of our society’s moral priorities.
Plenty of room to disapprove of both things.
Yes, but one story is glaringly absent from the media.
Yes okay these dictators are bad but how is that any different from stars who perform for the Queen or US Presidents? What about performing for rich American/british businessmen and their spoiled kids? Is that any different either?
No singer/actor is gonna turn down money. Not in a million years. They all talk about rights issues and their personal opinions but the money and fame come first for these people.
This reminds me of when stars talk about body issues or animal rights issues when they are the face of a brand that does lots of photoshopping or uses animal fur in their fashion line.
If someone opposed the US or the UK government or was an avowed communist who despised rich businessmen, I would judge that person to be a hypocrite, even though I’m somewhat (not completely) accepting of all of the things listed.
I’m assuming that Carey opposes things like torture, genocide, corruption, despotism, and the like, so she’s guilty of hypocrisy at the very least. Continuing to work for evil people lends them credibility, and the money she’s being paid has generally been siphoned from the people who are being oppressed. If she is in fact fine with human rights abuses, then she’s a bad person for other reasons.
Not surprised one bit. She loves money almost as much as she loves wearing lingeire on daytime talk shows with her boobs flopping all over the place. Same day, same Mariah.
What a sad human being. So much money, so much fame, and still no values or a conscience.