Human Rights Group Calls Out Kanye West for Kazakhstan Performance

This past Saturday, Kanye West entertained the friends and family of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the wedding of Nazarbayev’s grandson.

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But according to the Wall Street Journal, the Human Rights Foundation, an international human rights group, says that an artist as charitable as West should have declined the money and the offer. 

“Kanye West is legitimizing these people,” Human Rights Foundation President Thor Halvorssen said in an interview with Speakeasy. He also said the rapper’s performance undermines his support of certain charities. “He has been very loud about his charity work, so this case is ironic,” Halvorssen said.

Earlier this year, singer Jennifer Lopez also came under fire for a similar private performance in Turkmenistan. West reportedly has a booking price for private performances of $3 million.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.