Mariah Carey was allegedly paid around $1.5 million to perform at a private celebration on New Year’s Eve in London for the son of the Sultan of Brunei.
Invited to appear by Prince Azim, the American pop queen is believed to have performed three songs.
The New Year’s Eve party was hosted at the five-star Dorchester Hotel. Prince Azim is known for his lavish star-studded parties, and his 30th birthday in 2012 was attended by the likes of Pamela Anderson, Raquel Welch and Elizabeth Jagger.
Carey and the billionaire prince are believed to have been friends for a number of years according to a close contact of the royal family.
A representative of Carey said: “Mariah has known Prince Azim for many years. They are friends and have done a lot of charity work together,” although they would not discuss how much she was paid.
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Controversy
But Carey’s New Year’s performance came after she stirred controversy when she was paid an estimated $1m to perform for Angolan President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos last week.
The performance prompted human rights campaigners to express their outrage at the news, claiming the leader had murdered and exploited the African country’s people for his own gain.
But Carey is not the only pop star to recently come under fire for controversial performances.
In July 2013, Jennifer Lopez apologized for singing “Happy Birthday to You” to the president of Turkmenistan.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) had criticised the performance in a strongly worded statement, prompting the apology. According to the non-profit, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has “ruled the country with an iron fist since 2006.”
