Report: Superstars Performed at Private Events Held By Qaddafi

Posted March 7, 2011 by J Matthew Cobb in News

Pop acts including Beyonce, Usher and Mariah Carey performed for Libyan dictator; apologies are now being issued since story broke

Rolling Stone’s Steve Knopper recently exposed some pretty controversial material when addressing some of the music industry’s biggest names, including Mariah Carey, Beyoncé and Usher taking in millions of dollars to play private shows for the family of Libya’s dictator, Col. Muammar-el Qaddafi – who is now being accused of suppressing his nation from their civil rights and for killing thousands of civilians who have proactively been protesting against his leadership. Howie Klein, former president of Reprise Records and now a leftist blogger, expressed his grief over the news. “When I saw Beyoncé and Usher…partying with these Libyan criminals – these are people who have stolen tens of billions of dollars from their nation. For very, very wealthy pop stars to take part in this kind of thing makes me want to puke.” According to media reports, Jay-Z, Lindsay Lohan, Jon Bon Jovi and supermodels Miranda Kerr and Victoria Silvstedt were also in attendance at the shows in 2009. Randy Phillips, of AEG Live and representative of Usher, had no comment on the matter. According to ‘Rolling Stone’, publicists and managers for the mentioned artists declined interviews and had no response to the questions at press time.

Since the story broke, Mariah Carey has publicly expressed “embarrassment” over her private concert and pledges to raise money for human rights with a future single. Following Carey’s apologies, Beyoncé and Usher have announced they have donated their Quaddafi earnings to charity. “I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St Bart’s event that took place on New Year’s Eve 2009,” says Usher, in a recent statement. “I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations.”