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Qaddafi pop scandal

By on March 7, 2011

As the political situation in Libya garners more attention from the mainstream media, increasing scrutiny has been placed on a number of pop stars who accepted large sums of money to perform at parties thrown by members of the Qaddafi family.

It is believed Nelly Furtado, Beyoncé, Usher, Mariah Carey and 50 Cent all received $1 million to perform at private functions for relatives of the Libyan dicatator over the past couple of years.

Nelly Furtado was the first to break her silence when she apologised to fans on Twitter and promised to donate the funds to charity.

The next diva to go into damage control was Beyoncé, who claims to have already donated her money to a Haiti related charity.

“All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year’s Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti, over a year ago,” the singer’s publicist told reporters.

“Once it became known that the third party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause.”

Receipt of the funds was confirmed by the charity.

Mariah Carey hasn’t returned the money but promised to write a song to raise funds for human rights organisations.

She had this to say: “I was naïve and unaware of who I was booked to perform for.

“I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess – Going forward, this is a lesson for all artists to learn from.

“Ultimately we as artists are to be held accountable.”

As yet Usher and 50 Cent have refused to comment.

Via Entertainment Weekly.

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