Mariah Carey shakes off boycott calls for her Saudi concert
Mariah Carey, one of the world’s most celebrated artists, is performing in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for the first time, but there’s a growing chorus of Saudi women calling on her to cancel the concert to show support for detained women’s rights activists.
Carey is the highest-profile star to perform in the kingdom since it began loosening decades of restrictions on entertainment, music and fun as part of a push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to overhaul the economy and transform society.
But activists say her concert is an attempt by the government to polish its image after the Oct. 2 killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Carey’s publicists told The Associated Press in a statement that when “presented with the offer to perform for an international and mixed gender audience in Saudi Arabia, Mariah accepted the opportunity as a positive step towards the dissolution of gender segregation.”
“As the first female international artist to perform in Saudi Arabia, Mariah recognizes the cultural significance of this event and will continue to support global efforts towards equality for all,” the statement said, adding that Carey looks forward to bringing inspiration and encouragement to all audiences.
Omaima Al-Najjar, a Saudi woman who fled the kingdom to seek political refuge abroad, said the concerts are a diversion from the Saudi-led war in Yemen against the neighboring country’s Houthi rebels, human rights abuses committed under the crown prince and repressive male guardianship laws that restrict women’s freedoms.
“The Saudi government is using entertainment to distract the people from human rights abuses because it can sense the anger among the public,” she said.
Al-Najjar is a co-founder of Women for Rights in Saudi Arabia, or WARSA, which launched a petition calling on Carey to boycott the country. The petition aimed to publicly pressure Carey because “she has power to stand for women … as an artist and as a female,” Al-Najjar said.
Carey is to perform at King Abdullah Economic City, a two-hour drive north of Islam’s holiest site of Mecca. The Economic City, built as a sort-of enclave for foreigners and Saudis, is gated and can only be entered with permission from security.
The concert, which includes DJ Tiesto, has also drawn the ire of some ultraconservatives on Twitter, angered that it is taking place in the greater region of Mecca.
The General Entertainment Authority’s online flyer for Carey’s concert shows her only from the waist up, with a red scarf draped over her arms. Women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear loose, long black robes known as abayas in public. Most Saudi women also cover their hair and face.
Still, a concert like this would have been unthinkable until recently. Religious police used to enforce strict gender segregation, scolded women for not covering their hair and barged into restaurants to demand music be turned off.
The changes have a powerful backer in the crown prince, who is seeking to boost domestic spending and draw attention to his reforms.
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