Photo Courtesy: hollywood reporter
LOS ANGELES
Singers Janet Jackson, 50 Cent, Chris Brown and others are facing the heat from the same human rights group which asked rapper Nicki Minaj to cancel her performance at the Jeddah World Fest in Saudi Arabia.
Janet, Chris Brown, 50 Cent to perform at Saudi concert
The foundation has asked the singers to cancel their performances scheduled at the upcoming fest.
"Not a single public position you have taken on social and political matters during your career would be permitted in Saudi Arabia. In fact, if you were a Saudi, you would be imprisoned, tortured, or even executed for expressing yourself as you have in the past," The Hollywood Reporter quoted the Human Rights Foundation's letter addressed to Jackson made public on Thursday.
The letter further read, "Just imagine the set-up for your upcoming performance: Gender segregation between unmarried men and women is still strictly enforced. Saudi Arabia's male guardianship law requires women to obtain permission from a male for everything from registering for school to checking into a hospital. Any woman attending your performance will require permission from a man and will have to be accompanied by a male 'guardian' in order to go there."
The human rights foundation sent similar letters to other singers including Chris Brown, Michael Stevenson, the rapper-actor known as Tyga, and Nayvadius Wilburn.
This comes after Minaj pulled out of her scheduled performance and issued a statement regarding the same.
"After careful reflection, I have decided to no longer move forward with my scheduled concert at Jeddah World Fest," quoted Minaj in a statement released on Tuesday.
The statement further reads, "While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression."
The human rights foundation's president, Thor Halvorssen commented on the artists who were scheduled to perform, and said that they "constantly make public statements of support for LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives Matter, and women's rights, except, apparently, when a seven-figure check is attached. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
