Posts Tagged ‘Jennifer Lopez’
May 2, 2014
(Erykah Badu performs onstage 15 March 2014 in Austin; Roger Kisby—Getty Images)
The misuse of star power by Erykah Badu referred to in an earlier post got a nice follow up according to the opinion piece posted by Thor Halvorssen and Alex Gladstein in TIME of 2 May 2014. After recalling in detail her singing for the Swazi absolute monarch [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/another-case-of-misused-star-power-erykah-badu-performs-for-swaziland-dictator/], the authors describe Badu’s defensive and sometimes offensive comments in the social media: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Alex Gladstein, dictatorship, Erykah Badu, human rights, Jennifer Lopez, King Mswati, Mariah Carey, music, social media, star power, Swaziland, the Gambia, Thor Halvorssen, Time, twitter, Yahya Jammeh
February 28, 2014
Regular readers of this blog know that I like the idea of holding celebrities accountable (most recently: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/star-power-and-human-rights-a-difficult-but-doable-mix/). The reason is that there is a mutually reinforcing (and for many profitable) interaction between the stars and the media (which in turn feed on the interest of the public). Celebrities’ views on all kind of issues – including human rights – can hardly be called private. Their social media are virtual industries and influence millions globally. So it seems a good idea to have an annual look at which celebrities have advanced and which have harmed the cause of human rights around the world. Halvorssen and Leigh Hancock ( of the Human Rights Foundation) have done exactly that in the Atlantic on 27 February 2004 and linked it to the upcoming Oscars night on Sunday.
(Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
The list of celebrities deserving recognition for their accomplishments in the field of human rights or those who should be ashamed for supporting human-rights violators, is long and contains many video links. Like the real Oscars, the list is slanted in terms of geopolitical interest and I think that if all major international human rights organisations would get together to agree on a list if would be more balanced, but that is probably wishful thinking. Still, the Human Rights Foundation deserves credit for this creative initiative. and here is the summary:
The Nominees for Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 5 Comments »
Tags: Africa, Angola, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bahrain, Bassem Youssef, Ben Kingsley, Bono, celebrities, China, Colin Firth, Cui Jian, democratic republic of the congo, Dennis Rodman, Egypt, Emma Thompson, Equatorial Guinea, Fat Joe, Gabriela Montero, George Clooney, Gustavo Dudamel, Halvorssen, hollywood, human rights, Human Rights Foundation, human trafficking, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Stewart, Julio Iglesias, Kanye West, Kazakhstan, Khalid Abdalla, Kim Kardashian, Leigh Hancock, LGBT rights, Libya, Madonna, major star power, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, North Korea, oscar night, Oscars, Russia, Susan Sarandon, the Atlantic, The Square, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Venezuela
February 10, 2014
(Jennifer Lopez performing for the leader Turkmenistan. (c) Agence France-Presse/Igor Sasin)
In quite a few earlier posts in this blog I have drawn attention to stars and celebrities who either support dictators or simply do not care that their actions do. So, I was quite happy to see a thoughtful piece by Jo Biddle of Agence France-Presse on 9 February 2014 analyzing this issue a bit more in-depth, with actress Scarlett Johansson as the “poster girl of Israeli apartheid”, Dennis Rodman in North Korea, and Kim Kardashian expressing her love of Bahrain. I would add, Mariah Carey who thinks nothing of singing for Gaddafi or the Angolan President, while Jennifer Lopez (picture above) did the same in Turkmenistan.
The author rightly states that when celebrities wander into complex foreign policy issues, it can be a minefield, leaving diplomats and human rights campaigners scrambling for damage control. The article mentions exceptions such as Bob Geldof, Bono, George Clooney or Angelina Jolie Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 9 Comments »
Tags: Agence France-Presse, Angelina Jolie, Angola, Bahrain, Barbara Hendricks, Bob Geldof, Bono, Brian Dooley, celebrities, concert, Dennis Rodman, diplomacy, Gaddafi, George Clooney, HRF, human rights, Human Rights First, human rights violations, Israel, Jennifer Lopez, Jo Biddle, Kim Kardashian, Loreen, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, North Korea, Scarlett Johansson, singers, solidarity action, star power, stars, Sting, Turkmenistan
December 19, 2013
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 7 Comments »
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Angola, Angolan Red Cross, Barbara Hendricks, celebrities, dictatorship, Human Rights Foundation, human rights violations, Jennifer Lopez, José Eduardo dos Santos, Mariah Carey, Muammar Gaddafi, Rafael Marques de Morais, Turkmenistan
September 4, 2013
On 28 May 2012 I congratulated Loreen – the Swedish winner of the Eurovision song festival – as she was the only of the contesting artists who stood up for human rights. During her visit to Baku she visited human rights defenders at risk during a meeting the NGO Civil Rights Defenders arranged. The Government of Azerbaijan tried to downplay the issue by saying that music and human rights have to be separate, but it is shocking that a number of musicians seem to agree with this position.
The New-York based Human Rights Foundation, on 3 September 2013, reports that the American musician Kanye West performed at the wedding of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson last Saturday night in Kazakhstan. He reportedly received $3 million for the private engagement in the oil-rich former Soviet state, which has been autocratically since 1991. West’s lucrative private performance comes on the heels of a similar concert given by Jennifer Lopez for the dictator of neighboring Turkmenistan earlier this summer, which sparked a worldwide media interest. At the time, Lopez claimed ignorance of Turkmenistan’s notorious human rights abuses. West is not the first global celebrity to be approached to play in Kazakhstan: in 2011, Sting refused to play a private concert there, citing concern over the repression of workers in the country.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Azerbaijan, dictatorship, Eurovision Song Contest, eurovision song festival, human rights, Human Rights Foundation, Jennifer Lopez, Kanye West, Kazakhstan, Loreen, music, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Sting, Turkmenistan
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 