Bravo to Team Beyonce. The pop icon reportedly donated the $2 million she received to perform for Mutassim Gadhafi—the son of Col. Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan national security adviser coordinating the bloody crackdown that has killed thousands—to Haitian earthquake relief.
Beyonce gave the money away as soon as she learned of Mr Gaddafi's connection to the concert at a private party on the Caribbean island of St Barts on December 31, 2009, spokeswoman Yvette Noel-Schure said.
"All monies paid to Beyonce for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St Barts on New Year's Eve 2009... were donated to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti over a year ago," she said. "Once it became known the third party promoter was linked to the (Gaddafi) family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."
Earlier this week, singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado tweeted she is donating the $1 million she was paid for a private concert for Libya's Gadhafi family.
Excellent decisions by Furtado and Beyoncé, who obviously do not want their brands associated with the carnage in Libya. And continued silence from Usher, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and others who were also paid millions to entertain the blood-thirsty Libyan leader ... responsible for ordering soldiers to spray unarmed civilian crowds with machine guns and helicopter and bomber strikes against civilian targets, among other atrocities.
Speak now or possibly be forced to testify in a war crimes trial. The International Criminal Court in The Hague announced today that it will investigate Gadhafi, his sons, key aides for crimes against humanity.
You Should Read ...
Furtado to Donate Qaddafi Money to Charity
WIKILEAKS: Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Performed for Qaddafi Son
You have to have lived under a rock to not know what Gaddafi has been doing, come on.
Whatever, to me the brand is already stained. Here in the UK we talk about this more in the press and the press here has been at Beyonce for a while for concerts she has done in the Arab Emirates, Libya, dodgy Dubai one's, suspicious Russian ogliarachs etc etc
Nothing new. These entertainers have been doing this for years.
It was huge uproar around a year ago when Beyonce was heading to a concert in Egypt after they'd come out with a really anti-gay and threatening message but she didn't back down and continued her concert. $$$$$$
Posted by: Rowan | 03 March 2011 at 17:18
Clutch the pearls! I cannot believe it! Beyonce, good for you!
And for all you people jumping on her for taking the money to begin with, to quote a Destiny's Child song, "Can you pay her bills, can you pay her telephone bills, can you pay her automobiles?"
Posted by: Distant Lover | 03 March 2011 at 17:29
Every entertainer may not tell the press what they have done with their fees. This says she donated the money over a year ago. If there wasn't any hosilities at this time, no one would have ever known, nor felt the need to know. I'm just saying that this article backs up what I said regarding agents and managers handling the business of artists. They don't always do things just to be greedy. This was a third party business deal for a concert in the Caribbean, not Libya. So how was she to know this was the fanicer?
Posted by: Diva1961 | 03 March 2011 at 18:07
Nothing she will ever do will please the people who hate her. Its just a fact. I don't for one minute believe she condones or supports the violence that is happening now or the violence of the past. Call me a stan if you want, but I'm glad the money was given to Haiti relief and still remain a HUGE Beyonce fan. I would say that it was an error in judgement to perform for them in the 1st place, but I'm sure she will be more mindful in the future.
Posted by: isis | 03 March 2011 at 18:10
Beyonce gave her earnings to charity TWO YEARS before this story ever broke. Yet and still her HATERS will find a reason to hate her anyway.
A lot of sad people out there.
Posted by: Toddy English | 03 March 2011 at 18:34
The first poster is right ... They've been on her about this for sometime but like most things where she's concerned the American press swept it under the rug.
Since queens love to call anybody who does not like this chick a hater, I'll gladly take the tag. She will end up this generation's Donna Summer - a heffa who used gay men to make millions but really has little to nothing for us and will eventually let it slip. Though she loves aping our style and culture I have never gotten the sense that she's for us or our issues. Keep kissing her behind if you want.
Posted by: The other guy | 04 March 2011 at 10:08
Well I feel this is a safe place to say she is sending her Libyan money,,No money has gotten to Haiti yet any way from any donated money!...Good Lip service...I will believe it when I see some progress in Haiti!
And I am not a Beyonce hater..
Posted by: DW Jazzlover | 04 March 2011 at 12:32
@the other guy
Beyonce will be just fine! She has real talent! If you take away the hair, makeup and costumes... she can still sing and dance. Can't say the same about others... Rihanna, Britney, Taylor and so on. Its perfectly ok to not like her though. I don't like many artists myself. Its when you go above and beyond to criticize is what makes you a hater. I have heard people (on this blog) call Beyonce ugly, talentless and so many other things. Those are delusional statements IMO. Perhaps she is not your cup of tea, but to call her ugly is silly. I don't get the Donna Summer comparison. Donna's genre ran its course and she was unable to cross over and she also had drug problems. How did she use gay men? I would think thats insulting to the gay men who loved her music and supported it, because it spoke to them. So are you saying gay men are just sheep to be herded around? None of the gay men I know fit that description. All my gay male friends are independent, intelligent and they are REAL MEN! Beyonce doesn't seem to have a problem with gay man, she has them around all the time. However, I would like to here what she has to say about gay rights. I don't ever recall an interviewer asking her that type of question. If she ever came out with an anti-gay message I would IMMEDIATELY remove her music from my life.
@ DW Jasslover
I know what you mean about Haiti. There has been so much impropriety going on regarding relief and aid. We can't blame Beyonce though, she's not the one handling the funds. I myself donated $500 and some canned goods. I hope it helped someone. It was my small contribution. They need some real leadership over there. It just seems to be so unorganized.
Posted by: isis | 04 March 2011 at 13:48
She and I can say we donated our money but those are just words.
Posted by: Cedric | 05 March 2011 at 12:22
@The other guy. I'm not gonna tag myself as a hater. Her music isn't my taste, but my biggest disappointment is how she does NOTHING for the gay community. She doesn't need to donate money. She could just vocalize support for gay causes/people. But she chooses not to, while accepting millions of gay dollars.
Posted by: Jarron | 05 March 2011 at 13:58
I think people hate on her because it seem suspicious of when the money was donated.
Posted by: thegayte-keeper | 06 March 2011 at 21:43
Yeah, this story was actually a big deal on UK-based blogs last year. And it was NO SECRET that the party was thrown by Qadaffi. Beyonce must have known. Beyonce's husband, Jay-z, actually played the same gig a year earlier and Russell Simmons sent out a tweet from the party confirming that he was at a Qadaffi party. There was no way Beyonce didn't know the host's identity.
I applaud Beyonce for giving such large sums to charity,but I honestly doubt there is a connection between the money she donated for Haitian relief and her "discovering" that she had performed for those bloodthirsty savages. She has been willing to perform in morally questionable situations for most of her solo career. I think this was just a lucky coincidence for her publicists.
Posted by: Ozzo | 07 March 2011 at 06:11