Beyonce performed for the violent son of Libyan dictator Khadafi. Photo: Patricia Schlein/Wenn

On New Year’s Eve, Beyoncé gave a private concert at a party thrown by Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, a man with a history of violence against women.

The R&B singer performed for an hour at the Nikki Beach club in St. Bart’s, French West Indies, for a crowd that included her husband Jay-Z, Usher and Lindsay Lohan, the New York Post revealed. Beyoncé allegedly received $2 million for her show, according to the Guardian.

Hannibal, 33, is known for his history of violence against women, including his own wife Aline Skaf. On Christmas Day, he allegedly attacked her in a London hotel and in July 2008 the couple was charged with beating their servants in a hotel in Geneva.  They denied the allegations and the servants dropped the charges after receiving compensation.

In 2005 Hannibal was arrested in Paris for allegedly punching Skaf. A year earlier he led a police chase on the Champs-Elysees. Both times no charges were brought. In 2001 he attacked three Italian policemen and then claimed diplomatic immunity.

Vacationers on the island were aghast that Beyoncé and Jay-Z were at the party, according to the New York Post. Marina Hyde, columnist for The Guardian, wondered whether “a couple whose combined worth was recently estimated at $1bn really need to rent themselves out to sons of one of the Great Satan’s least beloved antagonists”.