Say It Ain't So, J.Lo: Singer Blasted for Crooning 'Happy Birthday' to Leader of Oppressive Regime

NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) -- Jennifer Lopez sang "Happy Birthday" to the leader of a country that Human Rights Watch describes as "among the most repressive in the world."

But the pop diva's rep said JLo wouldn't have performed the show in Turkmenistan had she known there were human-rights issues there.

US pop diva Jennifer Lopez performs at Avaza, near the city of Turkmenbashi (Father of all Turkmen), named after former president Saparmurat Niyazova on June 29, 2013. She sang 'Happy Birthday' to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, president of Turkmenistan, described by Human Rights Watch in a January report as 'one of the world's most repressive' regimes. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The leader of the former Soviet bloc country, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, has been criticized for his oppressive rule. He attended the show Saturday night, and Lopez sang "Happy Birthday" to him from the stage.

A statement released Sunday by her publicist to The Associated Press said the event was hosted by the China National Petroleum Corp. and wasn't a political event.

After a United Nations visit last month, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said the country had made progress in the area of human rights, but "a lot more work is needed to complete this process and to ensure practice is in line with international standards."

Lopez's publicist says the event was vetted by Lopez's staff: "Had there been knowledge of human rights issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended."

The birthday serenade was a last-minute request made by the corporation to Lopez before she took the stage, and she "graciously obliged," the statement said.

JLo in the midst of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" (Credit: YouTube)

Lopez is the latest celebrity to face scrutiny for performing in countries or for leaders with human rights violations.

In 2011, Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank profusely apologized after attending a birthday party for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who had been accused of torture and killings; she said she didn't have a full understanding of the event.

Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Usher were paid handsomely to perform at parties linked to the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. All later announced plans to donate their performance fees to charity and said they hadn't known the leader was connected to terrorism.

Lopez has no other performances scheduled in the country, her publicist said. Her performance fee wasn't disclosed.

The following clip contains portions of Lopez's performance, including a snippet of her intoning "Happy Birthday, Mr. President":

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