You know the deal: pop star performs a gig for a shit ton of money in a foreign country with questionable political practices (LOL, okay America) and then everyone’s yelling at the pop star and s/he has to give all the money to a pro-America or pro-humanitarian aid “charity” to make it all better. Well, Mariah Carey is the latest to wear those boots, as she’s under fire for putting on a gig for the Angolan Red Cross sponsored by Unitel, which is owned by President José Eduardo dos Santos’s daughter.
‘Why does that matter?’ you might ask if you know as little about Angola as I do. Well, let’s have Human Rights Foundation President Thor Halvorssen explain it to us:
“Mariah Carey can’t seem to get enough dictator cash, reportedly more than $1 million this time. Just five years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar 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.
“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.”
I mean, again, this doesn’t say much about the actual situation happening in Angola (and sadly I’m ignorant on this), but I have to wonder where we draw the line. There are human rights violations that go on in every country. I’m not at all comparing life in America, say, to life in Angola, but I guess I just feel like this happens a LOT.
Mariah hasn’t responded to the criticism yet, but let’s all begin our countdown to when she offers to donate all the money to a human rights organisation.
I BET I HOPE she tells them to fuck off. I can’t believe there was NOBODY in her camp that told her .. ya know what this is a bad idea you will get slaughtered if you do this.