Jennifer Lopez performs at Muhammad Ali's Celebrity Fight Night XIX in Phoenix, Ariz., March 23, 2013.
Jennifer Lopez's skimpy outfits have outraged fans from Britain to the Middle East.
But this time, it's not her choice of attire that has everyone up in arms - but who where she chose to perform.
On Saturday night, Jennifer Lopez sang “Happy Birthday to the president of Turkmenistan, a former Soviet bloc country whose leader has been widely criticized for human rights violations.
The Puerto Rican singer proudly tweeted about her performance – in a country that bans social media.
“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?”
The performance infuriated human rights activists, who claim it destroys her carefully-crafted involvement in organizations like Amnesty International.
“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?” Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said in a press release.
Lopez’s representative said had the singer known there were human rights issues in the country, she wouldn't have performed there at all.
A statement released by her publicist says it was for the China National Petroleum Corp. and wasn't a political event.
However, the country's leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (gur-BAHN-goo-lee bair-dee-mukh-ha-MAY-doff), did attend. Berdimuhamedow has been criticized for oppressive rule by human rights organizations.
The statement says the event was vetted by Lopez's representatives, but she wouldn't have attended if she had known about the accusations.
According to the statement, the birthday song was a last-minute request made by the company to Lopez and she "graciously obliged."
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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
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