Rappers, Musicians Accused Of Using COVID Grants For Private Jets And Parties: Report

Music industry celebs Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Marshmello, and others are being accused of misusing funds distributed during the COVID pandemic meant to help struggling artists survive ongoing shutdowns.

An extensive report from Business Insider noted that these musicians applied for and received funds after President Donald Trump signed the grant into law in 2020. Other musicians and groups mentioned in the report include Alice in Chains, Shinedown, hip hop duo Rae Sremmerd, and Steve Aoki.

The Shuttered Venue Operations Grant (SVOG) allowed artists to collect up to $10 million to cover “ordinary and necessary” expenses. As part of the agreement, they were required to make a good-faith statement to the Small Business Administration and show that their companies had lost a minimum of 25% of revenue between one quarter in 2019 and the same quarter in 2020, the outlet noted.

The report accused Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr., of accepting $8.9 million through the SVOG and spending $1.3 million on private jets, more than $460,000 on designer clothes, and $2.14 million to pay a debt he owed to his former manager. He also stands accused of spending more than $175,000 on a music festival promoting his marijuana brand, GKUA.

BI alleged that Brown collected $10 million for his company, CBE Touring. From that, the rapper reportedly paid himself $5.1 million. He also reportedly used $80,000 to host his birthday party. 

Marshmello, whose real name is Christopher Comstock, was approved for a $9.9 million grant, the outlet noted. That money was allegedly all given to him as salary, which was permitted under grant conditions because it did not exceed the amount of money he made the previous year.

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DJ and record producer Aoki’s company, DJ Kid Millionaire Touring, allegedly spent $2.4 million of their approved grant money on payroll, including a $1.9 million chunk for Aoki himself. 

Shinedown band members reportedly took $8.3 million total and split $2.5 million three ways to pay themselves. Rae Sremmurd allegedly took $7.7 million in all.

The outlet noted that 13,000 groups received money from SVOG. The SVOG website says the program included more than $16 billion in grants. Originally, musicians weren’t eligible for the grants, but that decision was later changed.

As of Thursday, none of the artists mentioned in the article had responded to requests for comment or publicly discussed the accusations.