Latest On Bey And Jay-Z’s ‘Illegal’ Trip To Cuba + ‘Made In America Festival’ Returns to Philly
Beyonce and Jay-Z (AKA The Carters) celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in Cuba last week and some of the members of Congress aren’t to happy about it. As pictures circulated literally everywhere of the power couple (along with their mamas) touring the capital city Havana, sightseeing, posing for pictures with the natives and enjoying a performance from one of the country’s most popular performers Haila Momprie, lawmakers begin to question, how were they able to visit the island?
Turns out they were granted a cultural license from the United States Treasury Department, which is required by law to visit the country. Because of the US trade embargo, most Americans are required to have a license to travel to Cuba. President Obama eased the restrictions in 2011, allowing trips for academic, cultural or religious purposes. Two Florida Republicans who called for an investigation of the trip wrote in a letter last week:
Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda. We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents.
Jay-Z and Beyonce could be fined if they did not complete the correct documents for the trip. In other Jay-Z news,
The mogul announced today that the “Made in America” music festival will return to Philadelphia. More than two dozen artists including Janelle Monae, Drake, Run-DMC, Odd Future, Rita Ora and the Roc Nation president himself performed for over 40,000 attendees during the two day festival. The inaugural festival took place on the infamous Philadelphia Museum of Art steps where Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky was filmed and raised over $10 million dollars for the city. The festival will take place Labor Day weekend, August 31 and September 1. The lineup will be announced on Spotify later this week.
[NYDN, Rolling Stone, AP]