The Human Rights Foundation is calling for #NickiMinaj’s performance at this month’s Jeddah World Fest in Saudi Arabia to be canceled because of the regime’s violation of the rights of “tens of millions of Saudis.”
The Hollywood Reporter recently reported the festival will not permit alcohol and is intended for listeners who are 16 and older. However, women will be forced to wear a full Abaya and sit in a separated viewing area.
“Ms. Minaj, as you can see, you are scheduled to perform at a state-sponsored event in one of the most repressive regimes on earth—a country whose leader has also led a relentless campaign to silence women’s rights activists,” HRF CEO Thor Halvorssen said in the letter. “Many of the women who have advocated to lift the driving ban in Saudi Arabia are currently in jail and being subjected to torture that includes electric shocks, flogging, and rape.”
Halvorssen also explained how Minaj’s decision to perform only contradicts her personal support of the LGTBQ community. “Just three months ago five gay men were beheaded after they confessed to crimes under torture,” the letter states. “If you move forward with this performance for a festival sponsored by the Crown Prince, you will be in league with the people who respond to freedom of expression and thought with murder.”
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