While most of the blogosphere is buzzing about vapid, kids table controversy regarding Beyonce in blackface on the cover of some French magazine, here is a more serious accusation that should get people asking some real questions. My husband over at CNN Anderson Cooper recently tweeted some disturbing news regarding Usher, Beyonce and Mariah Carey getting paid to perform at a private New Years party for the relatives of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi. For those who are living under a rock, or deem what shenanigans Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan are getting into much more important, let me edumacate you for a second.
Qaddafi has huge ties to terrorism — including the infamous Munich massacre, the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, and the 1988 Lockerbie bombing — and has for a long time (until recently) been an ally with the United States. The Libyan people, like those in Egypt are trying to overthrow him as their president, and he's recently come under fire for threatening to hire mercenaries to kill all those who oppose him.
The New York Times revealed that Qaddafi’s son Muatassim, Libya’s national security adviser, had hired Beyoncé and Usher to perform at his New Year’s Eve party in St. Barts. Another Qaddafi son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, reportedly paid Carey $1 million to sing four songs at the previous year's New Year's party, also in St. Barts.
Cooper asked this question via Twitter: “Why would #Beyonce and #MariahCarey sing for Gadhafi’s son at a private party? How much did they get paid?” Tweeted Cooper. “What happened when we asked #Beyonce and #MariahCarey why they took Gadhafi money to sing at his son’s party.”
Salon.com even jumped in on the convo, asking why is it that mainstream celebrities do the things they do - be it stealing other people's ideas, songs, wear blackface in a photo shoot and take blood money from world dictators and continue to walk away unscathed? I'll tell you why. We've programmed the American people to the point that when something happens to you or in the world outside of the U.S. bubble, you don't know how to respond. We are so bombarded with so much techno-info all at once the majority don't know what to think, how to think or just plain ol' don't give a shit.
Here's a bit of the story at Salon.com but in the meantime read a bit of it below...
Still, the couple got away relatively unscathed in the media for their relationship with the dictator’s family, which is more than a little odd, especially since both (but especially Jay-Z) are considered political activists in the music industry. How could they not have known who was funding their performances? Are we really supposed to believe that a politically aware power couple like Jay and Beyoncé were just unable to “see (Mutassim’s) halo,” as Mediaite wrote? It’s also strange how these documents are coming to light now, as if they were a secret, when everyone from Page Six to the Daily Mail reported on the event at the time. (The Mail went as far as to title the piece “Beyonce shows off her strong thighs as she performs in St Barts in a cutaway leotard.”)
Beyoncé doesn’t have to apologize for her L’Officiel shoot. But she should be donating some of that $2 million back to organizations helping people in the Mideast.
Beyonce being dumb as a box of rocks is no longer an excuse for sheer stupidity. Surely she has to have an idea of what's going on in the world. All money seriously can't be good money, and I'm not buying that Mariah, Lionel Ritchie, Usher and Beyonce had no idea who the Qaddafi's are. He's been ruling Libya with an iron clad fist for over 40 years. I will say this - Beyonce released a statemtent trying to justify her singing at the event, saying it was thrown by Qaddafi's brother. I don't give a fuck if it was thrown by his maid. Any association with a dictator regardless of who it is is just bad. I just wish celebrities would keep it real and stop putting blame on their people whenever they fuck up. At the end of the day you all write the checks, so you can't tell me nothing gets by any of you without your knowledge.
I know not all celebrities are political, but there has to be a time when you can turn down a check. It shows you have some kind of dignity - but if Beyonce can steal people's ideas and pass it off uunapologetically as her own, why would you expect her to have morals when it comes to taking money from a killer.
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