Beyoncé has bragged in her music how her and Jay Z are officially a billionaire couple, and eyebrows were certainly raised when she popped up in India to perform at a lavish pre-wedding concert in India. That wedding being the daughter of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani. Obviously, all it took was the right amount of money for her to become "booked," promoting her availability to anyone rich enough to command her services. The sad thing is, Bey has soooo many fans in India but rarely performs there. Although a $14 million cheque is nothing to scoff at, she simply didn't need the money. Most people's anger stems from the Ambani family's display of wealth being one of the most vile and disgusting acts of contempt leveled at the poor by the rich. Bey is getting backlash because her paid performance is endorsing it. India has 70.6 million people living in extreme poverty and tremendous squalor. People there are living in slums and worrying about their next meal. Yet the Ambani's chose to spend their money on Beyoncé and John Legend at a wedding when they easily could afford to feed every poor person in India. I'd like to give Beyoncé the benefit of the doubt and think she may have donated her payment to India's poor, their hospitals, and the homeless. That's only because Bey prides herself on image, and if this was just money-driven on her behalf, I think her image might have taken a major hit.
As I say, she didn't need the money. She's Beyoncé. If it were any other artist, it might not have been a big deal but Bey has influence, power and impact. The last time she received backlash for doing something like this was when she performed at a Gaddafi family New Year's Eve party in 2009. The backlash was so strong it prompted her to release a statement claiming she gave the complete payment and all commissions to help support earthquake relief in Haiti.