Megastar artists Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Usher and 50 Cent have all been paid to perform at extravagant parties thrown by family members of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and now, following the violent Libyan uprising that’s left 1,000 people dead, each artist is now facing industry pressure to give away the money they earned from those gigs.
According to rollingstone.com, in 2005, 50 Cent performed for Gadhafi’s son, Muatassim, Libya’s national security advisor, at a film festival in Venice.
In 2008, Carey performed for Muatassim at a New Year’s Eve party on the island of St. Barts for a whopping $1 million.
The following year, both Usher and Beyoncé were paid an undisclosed sum to perform on the same island.
According to Dennis Arfa, agent for Metallica, Billy Joel and Rod Stewart, most artists are either unaware or unconcerned with political climates and regimes when performing for foreign rulers.
“I don’t think most artists go into [performing at a party like this] with that kind of in-depth focus, [of] how each country is governed and what goes on inside each country,” said Arfa. “Not every artist is a humanitarian. In more cases than not, for people, greed rules.”
David T. Viecelli, an agent for rock band Arcade Fire, explained that the best way for the artists to redeem themselves would be to donate the money to charity.
“Hopefully, donate it to a charity that somehow assists some of the people who have suffered at the hands of that regime,” said Viecelli.
Pop artist Nelly Furtado, who performed for the Gadhafi family in 2007 for $1 million, has already answered the call to donate her money, tweeting on Monday that she plans to give away the cool million she earned.
“In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Qaddafi clan to perform a 45 min. Show for guests at a hotel in Italy. I am going to donate the $,” tweeted Furtado.
Do you think the other artists should follow suit and give their Gadhafi money away to charity? –nicholas robinson
