Haiti president and former pop star Michel Martelly cancelled a concert to raise funds for the country’s schools. Martelly also announced that he would retire his singing act. He used to perform under the alter ego, “Sweet Micky.”
According to The Associated Press, the concert was supposed to take place Friday and that Matelly had promised that he would actually perform as “Sweet Micky.” However, Presidential adviser Damian Merlo told the AP that the holiday season and the difficulty of trying to organize the event quickly made it hard to actually hold the event.
Defend Haiti reports that the concert could have raised as much as $10 million, which would have gone to the National Fund for Education. During the UN General Assembly in New York in September, Martelly had first announced the event.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Martelly would no longer perform as “Sweet Micky.” Martelly’s performances as the alter ego were rather raunchy, including appearances dressed in drag and disrobing onstage, according to the Times.
Martelly’s advisor did not say when the show would be rescheduled, putting it on hold indefinitely. However, Merlo told the AP that Martelly’s administration does hope to hold the event sometime next year.
Martelly was elected president of Haiti in March, only deciding to run for office after Wyclef Jean could not run, and had never had real plans to run for political office until the devastating January 2010 earthquake.