Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado's Twitter admission that she performed for members of embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's family puts her on a select but growing list of top-flight entertainers who have done so.

"In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Qaddafi clan to perform a 45 min. Show for guests at a hotel in Italy," read a tweet on Furtado's official account Monday. "I am going to donate the $."

Between U.S diplomatic cables posted on WikiLeaks and artists' own admissions, no less than five performers have entertained the Gadhafis at a host of international locales.

The Caribbean island of St. Barts was the site for a New Year's Eve party thrown by Mutassim Gadhafi, Libya's national security advisor and one of the dictator's sons, in 2009. R&B stars Beyonce and Usher were the entertainment in what the cables called a $1 million personal concert.

The same son on the same island a year earlier paid another million dollars to hear Mariah Carey sing, the cables said. She sang four songs.

In 2006, the Gadhafis brought pop star Lionel Richie to Libya to perform. The concert marked the 20th anniversary of a U.S. raid on the North African country.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered the attack after Libya was implicated in the fatal bombing at a West Berlin nightclub that left one American service member dead.

CNN tried to reach Libya's representative in Washington on the WikiLeaks cables, but got no response. CNN also reached out to representatives for Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Carey and Lionel Richie for comment.

The only one who responded was a representative for Beyonce, who said "no comment."

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