A recent investigation claims that several artists have reportedly used pandemic grant funds to pay themselves or host extravagant parties at the expense of taxpayers.
Several singers, including Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, sought and were awarded grants under the US government’s Shuttered Venue Operations Grant, which was created to support independent venues and artistic organizations struggling during the pandemic.
The musicians who received the funds, which also included Marshmello, Alice in Chains, Shinedown, Rae Sremmerd, and Steve Aoki, asked for help after Donald Trump signed the grant into law in 2020, according to an in-depth report from Business Insider.
In order to receive up to $10 million (589.9 million pesos) for “ordinary and necessary” expenses for their loan-out companies, the artists had to provide the Small Business Administration with a good-faith statement and demonstrate that their companies had experienced a minimum of 25% decline in revenue from a quarter in 2019 to the same quarter in 2020.
The report asserts, however, that a large number of the musicians who were awarded the grants—none of whom replied to the publication’s requests for comment—used the funds to compensate themselves or for unrelated costs.
Wayne received $8.9 million (approximately 525 million pesos), which he divided for his own expenses, including $2.4 million (approximately 141 million pesos) to pay off a debt owed to his former manager Cortez Bryant, $1.3 million (76.6 million pesos) for private jets, and over $460,000 (27.1 million pesos) for designer clothing.
Brown, on the other hand, was given $10 million for his business, CBE Touring. The performer spent about $80,000 on his extravagant 33rd birthday celebration and paid himself $5.1 million (300.8 million pesos).
Since Marshmello earned over $9.9 million (approximately 584 million pesos) from touring in 2019, the money he received from the grant went directly to his pocket.
Aoki received $1.9 million (approximately 112 million pesos) of the $2.4 million (141.5 million pesos) spent on personnel expenses by his company, DJ Kid Millionaire Touring. Shinedown’s grant was $8.3 million (489.6 million pesos), of which $2.5 million (147.4 million pesos) was divided among three members and $650,000 (38.3 million pesos) was distributed to its 15 touring staff. A large portion of the $7.7 million (454.2 million pesos) that Rae Sremmurd received for its Sremm Touring went to the duo.
SVOG provided funding to 13,000 arts organizations overall. Before SBA overturned the ruling in late 2021, musicians were not initially specifically eligible. The SVOG website states that more than $16 billion (943.6 billion pesos) in grants to closed venues were part of the initiative.
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