Jennifer Lopez recently made headlines for serenading the oppressive ruler of Turkmenistan and now a human rights group says it&rsquo;s not the first time she&rsquo;s shaken her famous derriere for the world&rsquo;s most notorious thugs. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jul/Jennifer-Lopez.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 491px;" /> Too low for J Lo: Jennifer Lopez gives a birthday performance for Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov on June 29. Lopez is under fire for taking over $1 million from the notoriously repressive leader. Pic/AFP Human Rights Foundation criticised Lopez&rsquo;s June 29 rendition of &lsquo;Happy Birthday&rsquo; for President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and now the group claims she&rsquo;s taken money to perform for at least three other leaders and businessmen of ill repute. While the hit singer was paid a reported $1.5 million (Rs 9 crore) for the Turkmenistan gig that was hosted by China National Petroleum, Human Rights Foundation says she&rsquo;s made a total of $10 million (Rs 60 crore) from that and other questionable bookings. &ldquo;J Lo has repeatedly mingled with and entertained some of the world&rsquo;s worst thugs and their cronies,&rdquo; Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said in a statement. Berdymukhammedov has been criticised for his oppressive rule by human rights organisations. Human Rights Watch describes Turkmenistan as &lsquo;among the most repressive in the world.&rsquo; According to Human Rights Foundation, other leaders and businessmen with a history of human rights violations for whom Lopez has performed include Telman Ismailov, a Russian oligarch widely accused of corruption, and a 2011 performance for Uzbek industrialist Azam Aslanov at the wedding of his son. Lopez was also booked to sing &lsquo;happy birthday&rsquo; to another man, an allegedly corrupt Russian bureaucrat named Alexander Yolkin. She was paid $2 million for the gig, but it never happened because Yolkin was arrested the day before Lopez was slated to perform. Human Rights Foundation also criticised Lopez for taking a leg of her 2012 tour to Belarus, a country the group calls &lsquo;Europe&rsquo;s only dictatorship.&rsquo; Lopez&rsquo;s publicist responded to the row over the Turkmenistan event, and said the gig was vetted by the performer&rsquo;s staff: &ldquo;Had there been knowledge of human rights issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended.&rdquo;

The hit singer has been criticised by a human rights group for accepting lucrative fees to sing for despots and moguls from eastern Europe and Russia

Jennifer Lopez was paid $10m to perform for 'thugs and cronies'

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Entertainment / Hollywood News / Article / Jennifer Lopez was paid $10m to perform for 'thugs and cronies'

Jennifer Lopez was paid $10m to perform for 'thugs and cronies'

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast