Mariah Carey performed for Sultan of Brunei
OHMYGOSSIP — Mariah Carey spent New Year’s Eve singing at a party hosted by the Sultan of Brunei. The singer apparently seemed clueless as to her host Hassanal Bolkiah’s background as she happily pranced across the stage in a low-cut, sparkly gown, while the likes of Jerry Hall, Emmy Rossum, and John Travolta watched.
Carey’s appearance on Carson Daly’s New Year’s Eve show was pre-recorded, RadarOnline reports.
Carey’s New Year’s host at London’s Dorchester Hotel has been “absolute ruler” of the nation of Brunei since 1967 and amended the country’s constitution to make himself “infallible” in 2006.
The Sultan’s government has been accused of “arbitrary detention; limiting freedoms of press, speech and assembly; restricting religious freedom; discriminating against women; restricting labor rights; and exploitation of foreign workers.”
Last month, Carey was rumored to have been paid $1 million to perform for the President of Angola, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled his poverty-stricken nation with an iron fist for more than 30 years, amid rumors of kidnapping and torturing dissidents.
She also performed for money managers in the blood-drenched nation of Nigeria in early December.
And five years ago, she spent her New Year’s Eve performing for Mutassim Gaddafi, one of notorious Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s sons. She apologized for the gig three years later and offered to donate funds to charity in retribution.