Public consequences of pop stars' private gigs

With Mariah Carey, Beyoncé and other artists feeling the sting of their private concerts' connection to the Moammar Kadafi clan, the risks and payoffs of such lucrative engagements come to the surface.

By Reed Johnson and Rick Rojas,
Los Angeles Times
March 10, 2011

When pop stars Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Nelly Furtado and 50 Cent recently said they'd renounced millions of dollars they'd received for performing for members of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi's family, they drew attention to a growing and controversial cultural phenomenon: celebrity artists being hired by rich, powerful and sometimes disreputable clients to play at private or semi-private functions.

From flashy hotel openings to wedding receptions, upscale bat mitzvahs and Caribbean bacchanalias, brand-name musicians, Hollywood actors and other celebrities are increasingly renting out their talents, or simply their crowd-drawing presence, for under-the-radar engagements.

Despite the potential ethical breaches, and the risk of tainting their public images, big stars likely will continue to be tempted by fat fees and all-expense-paid trips by private jet to a remote tropical island or luxury resort. Today's free-spending clients include Fortune 500 corporations, Wall Street tycoons and nouveau-riche developing-world businessmen.

(More here.)