Jennifer Lopez apologizes for serenade of Turkmenistan president

Jennifer Lopez on Sunday was apologizing for singing “Happy Birthday to You� to the president of Turkmenistan at a concert Saturday night in that country.

Seems the concert was put together on behalf of China National Petroleum Corp. for the entertainment of their executives working in Turkmenistan, according to a statement from J.Lo’s rep obtained by E! News, and “was not a government sponsored event or political in nature.�

“The event was vetted by her representatives, had there been knowledge of human rights issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended,� the statement continued. However, the corporation folks made a last-minute request for a “birthday greeting� before the singer took the stage, and President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov got a 56th birthday serenade.

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The Human Rights Foundation criticized the performance in a strongly worded statement released Sunday, prompting the apology. According to the nonprofit, Berdymukhamedov has “ruled the country with an iron fist since 2006.�

The HRF statement, which listed the country’s alleged rights abuses and cited other groups’ rankings of the country among “the worst of the worst,� was not without a bit of snark.

“Lopez obviously has the right to earn a living performing for the dictator of her choice and his circle of cronies, but her actions utterly destroy the carefully-crafted message she has cultivated with her prior involvement with Amnesty International’s programs in Mexico aimed at curbing violence against women,� said the foundation’s president, Thor Halvorssen. “What is the next stop on her tour, Syria? The dictator of Kazakhstan’s birthday is July 6, maybe she will also pay him a visit?� Halvorssen asked.

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It’s not the first time Lopez has found herself a focus of international attention linked to a concert in a situation where human-rights abuses have been alleged.

In July 2010, Lopez canceled a performance that was to celebrate the opening of a hotel in the breakaway northern part of the island of Cyprus. Some saw Lopez’s planned performance as an endorsement of the self-declared state.

“Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse,� said a statement issued at the time of the cancellation.

That gig, scheduled for J.Lo’s 41st birthday, reportedly would’ve come with a $3-million paycheck.

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