American hip-hop artist, Akon, was one of the performers commemorating International Peace Day in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Sept.21. He was one of several national and international artists performing on the annual United Nations day to promote peace.

However, there has been several media outlets (The Source being mentioned by the Daily Mail) accusing the St. Louis born singer to going to “extreme lengths” to avoid the Ebola virus, in which there is currently an outbreak occurring in the DRC. What caused the criticisms?

Akon crowd-surfed the 60,000 strong audience in a big plastic bubble. However, as the Daily Mail reports: “The five-time Grammy nominee has performed inside the stage prop on a number of previous occasions including in Perth, Australia, and Dubai, both in 2010. Neither of those countries were battling Ebola outbreaks at the time.”

So is Akon getting a bad rap?

Read below for the latest on the DRC Ebola Virus Disease outbreak:

 

 

 

 

 

The 2014  International Day of Peace was dedicated to commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace, which enshrines the principle that establishing peace and security is a pre-requisite for durable progress and for the full exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms.