Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée urges Justin Bieber to cancel Saudi Arabia F1 concert
- Hatice Cengiz called on the Canadian pop star to scrap his December 5 show in the country that ‘kills its critics’
- Saudi youth are the main attendees of these concerts, enjoying the kingdom’s new-found social changes that allow for music and gender mixing
In an open letter published by The Washington Post, Hatice Cengiz urged the Canadian megastar to cancel his December 5 performance in the Red Sea city of Jiddah to “send a powerful message to the world that your name and talent will not be used to restore the reputation of a regime that kills its critics.”
Bieber’s concert is the most headline-grabbing performance scheduled for the race in Jiddah, though other F1 concert performers include rapper A$AP Rocky, DJs David Guetta and Tiesto and singer Jason Derulo.
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Public pressure, however, prompted Nicki Minaj in 2019 to cancel her appearance on stage at a concert in Jiddah. She said at the time she wanted to show support for women’s rights, gay rights and freedom of expression.
Khashoggi’s stunning killing in 2018 was carried out by members of a team of 15 Saudi government agents who’d been sent to Istanbul, where the writer and former government spokesman had an appointment at the Saudi consulate for documents needed to marry Cengiz. She waited for him outside the consulate, but he never walked out. His body was never found.
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“Please know that your invitation to participate in a concert in Jiddah comes directly from MBS, as the crown prince is known,” Cengiz wrote in her open letter to Bieber. “Nothing of significance happens in Saudi Arabia without his consent, and certainly not an event as important and flashy as this.”
Human Rights Watch has also called on Bieber and the other performers to pull out of the F1 concerts in Saudi Arabia, saying these events are aimed at “sportwashing” by diverting attention and deflecting scrutiny from Riyadh’s human rights record.
Saudi youth are the main attendees of these concerts, enjoying the country’s new-found social changes that allow for music and gender mixing. The kingdom’s General Sports Authority argues that sports is a tool for social change within the country.
Next month’s F1 race will be the first time Saudi Arabia hosts the premier sporting event, though the kingdom has organised the lesser known Formula-E race in past years in an effort to raise the country’s profile as a tourist destination.
