Usher Latest Celebrity to Give Away Earnings From Gadhafi Party
March 4, 2011 — -- The pop superstar Usher announced today he'd give away the money he received for his performance at a reported $1 million party for Moammar Gadhafi's son in 2009. He follows in the footsteps of other A-list celebrities, including Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Nelly Furtado.
"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Barts event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009," Usher said in a statement to ABC News and other organizations. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."
Usher has already committed a donation to Amnesty International, a representative for the singer said. That donation will be used to "support this urgent work to counter the brutal conditions like those imposed by Gadhafi and other leaders across the Middle East," Amnesty International said in a statement.
Leaked U.S. State Department documents, posted on the website WikiLeaks, describe the New Year's Eve Party on St. Barts for Moammar Gadhafi's son, Mutassim, at which Usher and Beyonce performed. The year before, Mariah Carey performed at a similar party for the dictator's son, according to the documents.
Each of the performers announced this week that they had already donated, or would be donating, the proceeds from the performance to charity. The announcements came after singer Nelly Furtado, who said she performed for the "Gadhafi clan" at an Italian hotel in 2007 for $1 million, told her fans via Twitter she would be giving the money away.
