Rappers Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Marshmello, and several other artists are being accused of misusing government-provided COVID relief funding to pay for lavish parties and to fill their own pockets.
The musicians are accused of filing for and misusing Shuttered Venue Operations Grant money, which was supposed to help arts groups weather the COVID shutdowns during the pandemic and was meant to be used for operating expenses and employee salaries.
The SVO grant was signed into law by Donald Trump in 2020 and offered up to $10 million for arts organizations, studios, theaters and similar outlets to spend on “ordinary and necessary” expenses to remain viable during the shutdowns. To be eligible, filers had to show that the pandemic cost them at least 25 percent of revenue over previous quarters.
Other artists who filed for the funding includes Alice In Chains, Shinedown, Rae Sremmerd, and Steve Aoki, acording to Business Insider.
Business Insider, though, notes that many entertainers did not spend the money as directed.
Rapper Lil Wayne reportedly received $8.9 million, but spent the relief funds on personal expenses including $1.3 million on private jets, over $460,000 on clothing, and $2.14 million to pay off a debt to his former manager Cortez Bryant.
When a Business Insider reporter tried to contact Lil Wayne about the coming story, he responded in a crude sexual manner:
Here's how he responded. pic.twitter.com/1WCoSetpmk
— Katherine Long (@ByKLong) December 18, 2024
Wayne reportedly apologized for the outburst later, according to HotNewHipHop.
Chris Brown reportedly took $10 million, but assumed $5.1 million for a personal payment, then spent $800K on a birthday party. And rapper Marshmello was given $9.9 million in relief funds and he put the whole amount into his own pocket.
As to some of the others, Aoki used $2.9 million for payroll for employees — which was what the money was for — but also paid himslef $1.9 million. The three members of the band Shinedown each took $2.5 million of the grant for their own pockets, but also paid $650,000 to employees. Finally most of the $7.7 million given to Rae Sremmurd went to the artists, instead of the company’s expenses.
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