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Excessive-profile artists together with Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Marshmello obtained and misused tens of millions of {dollars} in government-issued COVID-19 aid cash, in keeping with a brand new report from Business Insider’s Jack Newsham and Katherine Lengthy. The exposé particulars how the musicians allegedly exploited the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG)—a program signed into regulation in 2020 to assist hard-hit impartial venues and struggling artists—to pad out their already luxurious life with lavish events, designer clothes, leisure journey, and extra.
In line with intensive accounting paperwork considered by Enterprise Insider, Lil Wayne obtained $8.9 million in grant funds from SVOG. He reportedly allotted over $1.3 million of that cash to private-jet journey and over $460,000 to clothes from high-end manufacturers corresponding to Balenciaga, Marni, Raf Simons, and Gucci. Wayne additionally reportedly billed taxpayers upward of $175,000 for “bills associated to a music competition selling his marijuana model, GKUA, together with clothes for artists related together with his report label,” as Enterprise Insider put it.
Extra alleged misuse of the funds included virtually $15,000 on flights and luxurious resort rooms for girls with no obvious connection to Wayne’s touring operation. The rapper additionally billed taxpayers slightly below $88,000 for bills associated to a live performance he by no means carried out (scheduled to happen on New Yr’s Eve 2021 in California).
Enterprise Insider reviews that Chris Brown’s firm CBE Touring obtained a $10 million grant—of which Brown obtained $5.1 million personally. His lavish thirty third birthday celebration additionally reportedly price taxpayers virtually $80,000, which was spent on “ambiance fashions,” an LED dance ground, bottle service, hookahs, and “nitrogen ice cream,” amongst different issues.
Producer and DJ Marshmello reportedly obtained $9.9 million in grant cash from SVOG—all of which he awarded to himself. As a result of he made greater than that quantity touring in 2019, he was capable of declare the grant in its entirety. In line with Enterprise Insider, Marshmello paid himself greater than every other musician who was granted SVOG cash, as Wayne, Brown, and others, paid a number of the funds towards their managers, crew, and extra workers.
Steve Aoki and members of Alice in Chains have been additionally named within the report for allegedly misusing SVOG funds. The SVOG program was helmed by the Small Business Administration, which claimed, in an announcement to Enterprise Insider, that it was directed to look at income, not the property of recipients. This allowed a gaping loophole for millionaire musicians to obtain funds meant for struggling artists.
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