Mariah Carey poses with José Eduardo dos Santos, the 34-year dictator of Angola, his wife, and his daughter Isabel—Angola’s only billionaire
The Human Rights Foundation has lately been targeting celebrities who give their voice and reputation to bad causes and I think it is an excellent idea. Some celebrities do good work (think of Barbara Hendricks or Angelina Jolie), most are not interested but there is no reason why some should go out of their way to give support to dictators. There is no financial or diplomatic necessity. So, it is good to highlight Mariah Carey‘s concert on 15 December during a gala for the Angolan Red Cross, which was sponsored by Unitel (President José Eduardo dos Santos billionaire daughter Isabel owns Unitel and is also president of the Angolan Red Cross). “Mariah Carey can’t seem to get enough dictator cash, reportedly more than $1 million dollars this time. Just five years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi” said HRF president Thor Halvorssen. “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”.
In 2008, when exposed for playing for Gaddafi’s family, Mariah released a statement saying: “I was naïve and unaware of who I was booked to perform for. I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess. Ultimately we as artists are to be held accountable. Going forward, this is a lesson for all artists to learn from. We need to be more aware and take more responsibility regardless of who books our shows.” [emphasis added] Rafael Marques de Morais, editor of an Angolan anti-corruption website, noted that “the presidency was happy to cover the capital in posters of her performance, but on November 23 the presidential guards murdered an activist in custody for posting fliers. Those fliers were a peaceful protest of the murder of other activists disappeared by state police. How does Mariah Carey, the artist and humanist, who so often speaks about human rights, feel about that?…..The Angolan Red Cross gala raised $65,000. Mariah Carey’s transportation alone cost several times that number. It’s absolutely shameless,” added de Morais.
[Mariah Carey joins Jennifer Lopez in repeatedly performing for human rights violators. Lopez recently performed at the birthday celebration of the dictator of Turkmenistan; after pleading ignorance, it was revealed that she had collected more than $9 million from other dictators and their cronies.].
Now Mariah Carey is on her way to Uganda, let’s see what she does there.
Related articles
- Mariah Carey Leaves Lagos For Uganda In Private Jet (brainclone.wordpress.com)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
January 3, 2014 at 12:50
[…] A bit of transparency to start the New Year: My blog on Human Rights Defenders was viewed about 19,000 times in 2013. In 2013, I created 644 new posts, bringing the total archive of this blog to 1,056 posts. The busiest day of the year was December 20th with 929 views [most popular post: Mariah Carey needs better-informed staff and donate her 1 million fee to Human Rights Defenders in A…]. […]
February 10, 2014 at 17:36
[…] But things can easily go wrong; The article mentions in particular the recent controversy surrounding Scarlett Johansson, who quit Oxfam last month after a dispute over her Super Bowl ad campaign for a firm operating in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and former basketball star Rodman calling the North Korean leader Kim Jung-un “my friend”, but refusing to intercede for the release of a Korean American, Kenneth Bae. In 2013 Jennifer Lopez’ spokesperson at the time stated should would not have gone to Turkmenistan if she had known of “human right issues of any kind”. Really missing from Jo Biddle’s piece is Mariah Carey’s gaffe with Gaddafi which she, at first, stated would never do again, but then repeated without shame in Angola. (see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her-1-mi…) […]
February 28, 2014 at 19:16
[…] 2. Mariah Carey (In 2011, the pop diva issued mea culpas for reportedly earning $1 million to perform at a party hosted by the son of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. “I was naive and unaware of who I was booked to perform for,” she said. “I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess. Ultimately we as artists are to be held accountable.” However, in December 2013, Carey received another $1 million to perform a two-hour concert at a fundraiser produced (and attended) by the family of Angola’s dictator. When confronted with the fact that his client previous pledge, Carey’s manager Jermaine Dupri said this “was not his problem” since he wasn’t her manager when she performed for the Qaddafi family. He admitted to setting up the concert and doing no research into Angola. Carey didn’t bother to issue an apology – see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her-1-mi…) […]
May 28, 2015 at 16:32
[…] He is same Rafael Marques de Morais, who was quoted in my post of 19 December 2013 about Mariah Carey performing for the President that “the presidency was happy to cover the capital in posters of her performance, but on November 23 the presidential guards murdered an activist in custody for posting fliers. Those fliers were a peaceful protest of the murder of other activists disappeared by state police. How does Mariah Carey, the artist and humanist, who so often speaks about human rights, feel about that?…..The Angolan Red Cross gala raised $65,000. Mariah Carey’s transportation alone cost several times that number. It’s absolutely shameless,” added de Morais. [from https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her-1-m…] […]
December 18, 2015 at 12:39
[…] [Two years ago, Mariah Carey was paid $1 million to perform in Angola at another one of the regime’s holiday parties. Since she had promised to never perform for dictators again after singing for Libya’s Qaddafi family, the public wasn’t forgiving the second time around. The result was a global PR scandal that led Carey to sever ties with Jermaine Dupri, the manager who arranged the visit. – https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her-1-m…%5D. […]
February 1, 2019 at 07:00
[…] The UN children’s aid group UNICEF, for whom Beckham is a goodwill ambassador, has criticised the Saudi-led coalition saying its bombing attacks there have had catastrophic consequences for the local population. Saudi Arabia has detained more than a dozen women’s rights activists such as Loujain al-Hathloul who once appeared in a Vanity Fair. Loujain’s sister, Alia, has criticised US singer Mariah Carey for playing a concert on Thursday at the King Abdullah Economic City. She said: “My own baby sister said she is being whipped, beaten, electrocuted and harassed on a frequent basis.” [but Mariah Carey is an old hand when it comes to selling her soul: see e.g. https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her…] […]
July 10, 2019 at 09:11
[…] {One of the women in prison is Loujain al-Hathloul and her sister, Alia, had criticised Mariah Carey for playing a concert the King Abdullah Economic City. She said: “My own baby sister said she is being whipped, beaten, electrocuted and harassed on a frequent basis.” She stated: “Remember, thanks to my sister @LoujainHathloul, you r able to perform in Saudi Arabia. I wish she can attend your concert. But she’s locked behind bars because she tried to improve women’s condition. Don’t forget to thank her on stage,” she wrote to Carey on Twitter. But Mariah Carey is an old hand when it comes to selling her soul: see e.g. https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2013/12/19/mariah-carey-needs-better-informed-staff-and-donate-her…%5D.} […]