Mariah Carey has come under fire after she was paid $1 million to perform for a dictator.
The
'All I Want for Christmas is You' singer gave a two-hour concert for
authoritarian Angolan President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos last Sunday, in
return for the huge amount.
The
move has angered human rights groups who claim Dos Santos has murdered
many and exploited the country's resources to his own gain.
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,' Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said.
Mariah's show was sponsored by Unitel, a mobile-phone company owned by Dos Santos' daughter, Isabel.
His daughter is also head of the Angolan Red Cross, which reportedly received $65,000 in benefit funds from the concert.
The concert comes five years after
Mariah apologized after performing for notorious dictator Colonel
Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed during the Arab Spring
uprising in 2011.
Thor
added: 'Mariah Carey can't seem to get enough dictator cash. Just five
years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar
al-Gaddafi.
'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.'
Mariah, 43, posed for pictures with Dos Santos and his family at the event.
According to the Human Rights
Foundation, she said: 'I am happy to be here in this room and I am
honored to share this show with the President of Angola.'
Critics
of Dos Santos claim he has murdered many politicians, journalists and
other people who have defied his orders, as well as monopolizing and
exploiting oil and diamond resources and seizing control of almost all
aspects of government power.
The performance comes six months
after Jennifer Lopez was forced to apologize for singing 'Happy
Birthday' to the repressive dictator of Turkmenistan's brutal regime.
Lopez
reportedly changed into a traditional Turkmen outfit during her June
show and personally serenaded Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow - whose
government is accused of arbitrarily arresting and torturing political
dissidents.
Human Rights Watch ranks Turkmenistan as 'among the most repressive in the world.'
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