The “high life” costs money – in the case of these stars, US taxpayers paid for it.
Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and Alice in Chains are reportedly among the artists who spent some of their taxpayer-funded COVID grants on luxury items, travel and parties.
Millions in help for millionaires
Then-President Donald Trump put the so-called “Shuttered Venue Operators Grant” into effect in 2020. It was intended to support musicians and venues that were affected by pandemic-related closures. Well has “Business Insider” discovered that a few of the big-name recipients were claiming millions of dollars – and spending them in questionable ways.
High travel costs and the finest silk
For example, rapper Lil Wayne is said to have received a total of $8.9 million from the state treasury. He is said to have spent 1.3 million of this on private jet flights alone. 460,000 for clothing and accessories from luxury brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga. A comparatively smaller sum of $175,000, according to the report, was for “a music festival to promote his marijuana brand GKUA” as well as “flights and luxury hotel rooms for women whose connection to Lil Wayne’s tour was unclear, including a waitress at a Hooters a similar restaurant and a porn actress died.
Birthday LED dance floor
R&B singer Chris Brown is said to have been paid ten million US dollars for his touring company “CBE Touring” through the subsidized management company “NKSFB”. About half of it went into his own pocket. According to Business Insider, Brown shelled out $80,000 for his birthday party. There he had an LED dance floor installed and hired “atmosphere models,” who are said to have been naked women with full-body paint. Elsewhere, the listing lists over $29,000 for hookahs, drink service, nitrogen ice and damage from burn holes in rented couches.
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Both Brown and Lil Wayne only invested a small part of the funding in tour-related expenses. The contract partners for the rapper’s canceled performances would have received around $327,000, while Brown is said to have spent around $383,000 on his crew’s salaries.
Of the $3.4 million in bridging aid for the grunge band Alice in Chains, “Business Insider” also reported pro-rata payouts to the touring staff. However, services such as health insurance for the crew were neglected. Among others, guitar technician and tour photographer Scott Dachroeden, who was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2022.
It appears that instead of supporting him with compensation payments, the formation has circulated a GoFundMe page for Dachroeden’s treatment on Twitter/X. There, the group wrote: “He has no health insurance and now cannot work to pay his bills.” Dachroeden has since died.
None of the parties have yet commented on the revelations.