Beyonce, Bad Salisbury Steak Spark Outrage In Ethiopia

Beyonce keeps running into problems thanks to her “skimpy sequined outfits” and the leg and chest flesh they invariably expose, especially when her diva duties take her to countries where her insistence on displaying her gifts runs counter to prevailing notions of religious propriety. This time she’s sparked a hunger strike in Ethiopia after she “met with the Ethiopian patriarch, Abune Paulos” and played a gig in honor of the “country’s millennium, which fell in September, according to the church’s calendar.”

Daniel Techale, a 28-year-old Theological College of the Holy Trinity alumnus who lives at the college, said about 30 of his friends had been hospitalized after a hunger strike they began Sunday.

He said students were upset by the closeness of the church to the ruling party and restrictions on their speech, but were also upset over the Beyonce-Paulos meeting.

“She provoked the whole situation,” he said, accusing the patriarch of “practically a nonreligious act. It’s unacceptable, or inappropriate, to say the least.”

Officials tried to downplay the uproar, saying that far from being irritated by B’s jelly, “what [protesters] have done is they have raised some administrative issues regarding food and clinical facilities,” and one student’s beef with the school proves that some complaints are culturally universal:

“There is no problem with Beyonce,” he said. “But the (cafeteria) food is poisoned.”

Students Protest Beyonce’s Ethiopia Trip [Washington Post]