Rod Stewart says he turned down a recent concert opportunity in Saudi Arabia, which has a history of human rights abuses, “to shine a light on the injustices there” for its citizens.
“I’m grateful I have the choice whether or not to perform in Saudi Arabia. So many citizens there have extremely limited choices – women, the LGBTQ+ community, the press,” Stewart said in a statement posted to Instagram.
He added, “I’d like my choice not to go… to shine a light on the injustices there and ignite positive change.”
The singer also turned down a similar offer to perform in Qatar for the 2022 soccer World Cup and said it was “not right to go.”
“I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1 million, to play there 15 months ago. I turned it down,” he said in 2022. “It’s not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms.”
(Photo: Penny Lancaster)
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