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Artist News
Lopez criticised for playing birthday gig for Turkmenistan president
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 1 July 2013
Jennifer Lopez has been criticised for playing at a lavish concert this weekend hosted by the China National Petroleum Corporation at a resort on the shores of the Caspian Sea, which doubled up as a celebration of the 56th birthday of Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
Turkmenistan is considering by many to be one of the world’s most repressive countries, with human rights campaigners accusing the Berdimuhamedow regime of harassing and jailing political opponents, and heavily censoring the internet. Yet, according to reports, Lopez sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the country’s controversial leader.
A spokesman for The Human Rights Foundation said that the singer’s appearance at the concert conflicted with her support for human rights projects elsewhere. The Foundation’s Thor Halvorssen told reporters: “Lopez obviously has the right to earn a living performing for the dictator of her choice and his circle of cronies. But her actions utterly destroy the carefully-crafted message she has cultivated with her prior involvement with Amnesty International’s programmes in Mexico aimed at curbing violence against women”.
However, a spokesmen for the songstress, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, insisted that the show was not directly organised by the Berdimuhamedow government, and was a corporate rather than political event. He added that the proposal that Lopez sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Turkmenistan President was made late in the day by the China National Petroleum Corporation, and that the singer agreed to comply on the spur of the moment.
Said the rep: “Jennifer Lopez and several other artists were invited and performed at a private corporate event for the China National Petroleum Corporation that was presented to their local executives in Turkmenistan. This was not a government-sponsored event or political in nature. The event was vetted by her representatives. Had there been knowledge of human right issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended”.
He added: “The China National Petroleum Corporation made a last minute birthday greeting request prior to Jennifer taking the stage. This was not stipulated in her contract but she graciously obliged the China National Petroleum Corporation request”.
