Armenian Government Uses Public Funds to Cover Jennifer Lopez’s $37,000 Food and $185,000 Hotel During Two-Day Concert Stay

The Armenian government is using $6 million of public funds to pay for American pop singer Jennifer Lopez’s concert in Yerevan on August 3. This decision has surprised many people in Armenia, especially because the spending was not made public until just days before the event.

The concert is part of Jennifer Lopez’s “Up All Night” world tour and will take place at the Republican Stadium in the Armenian capital. Ticket prices range from 25,000 to 180,000 drams ($65- $468). 

The concert was cancelled after Azerbaijan launched a military offensive in September 2023 against the Armenian-populated region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Azerbaijan forced Armenians out of their ancestral homeland, committed grave human rights violations, and destroyed cultural sites.  

Even though the concert was cancelled, Snoop Dogg and his team still received around $3 million at the time. An Armenian official said earlier this year that the rapper later returned the money. The rest of the funds went to the event organizer, a company called Doping Space. This same company is now in charge of Jennifer Lopez’s concert.

The government only admitted on Thursday that it is financing the upcoming concert and explained that the $6 million is the same amount that was originally planned for Snoop Dogg’s cancelled performance. The money was taken from a special budget in the Ministry of Education meant to support music and arts with a “national basis.” It’s unclear how a concert by a foreign pop star fits that goal.

An investigation by RFE/RL into the concert’s budget found some questionable expenses. For example, the cost of Jennifer Lopez’s food alone is around $37,000. This is more than double the amount planned for her team’s meals, which are expected to cost $16,000. The food budget for Lopez’s dressing room staff is $10,000.

The hotel expenses for Lopez and her team are estimated at $185,000. Of that, $10,000 will go toward Lopez’s personal stay.

The Armenian government will also pay Jennifer Lopez a performance fee of $2.6 million. This amount is close to what Snoop Dogg was promised for his cancelled show.

Many people in Armenia are frustrated by this spending. They point out that $6 million is more than the entire yearly budgets of many small towns and villages in the country.

Critics say the money could be better spent on solving real problems in Armenia, such as national security or local development. 

In 2023, officials defended the spending on the cancelled Snoop Dogg concert by saying it would improve Armenia’s image and bring in more tourists. However, many citizens are not convinced that spending millions of public funds on foreign celebrities is a wise decision, especially when the country faces much bigger problems.

Now, with just days before Jennifer Lopez takes the stage in Yerevan, many Armenians are still asking the same question: is this concert really worth it?

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