Mariah Carey slammed for $1m Angolan pay day

Human rights groups have slammed Mariah Carey's Angolan performance.

Mariah Carey has come under fire after she was paid $1 million to perform for a dictator.

The All I Want for Christmas is You singer gave a two-hour concert for authoritarian Angolan President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos last Sunday, in return for the huge amount, angering human rights groups.

Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said: "It is the sad spectacle of an international artist purchased by a ruthless police state to entertain and whitewash the father-daughter kleptocracy that has amassed billions in ill-gotten wealth while the majority of Angola lives on less than $2 a day."

Carey's show was sponsored by Unitel, a mobile-phone company owned by Dos Santos' daughter, who is also head of the Angolan Red Cross, which reportedly received $65,000 in benefit funds from the concert.

The concert comes five years after Carey apologised after performing for notorious dictator Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011.

Thor added: "Mariah Carey can't seem to get enough dictator cash. Just five years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi. Now, she goes from private performances to public displays of support and credibility for one of Africa's chief human rights violators and most corrupt tyrants."

Carey, 43, posed for a picture with Dos Santos and his family, and according to the Human Rights Foundation, said: "I am happy to be here in this room and I am honoured to share this show with the President of Angola."

Critics of Dos Santos claim he has murdered many politicians, journalists and other people who have defied his orders, as well as monopolising and exploiting oil and diamond resources and seizing control of almost all aspects of government power.

- Bang! Showbiz