{"id":2009626,"date":"2023-08-23T16:25:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T20:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/worlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-up-200-million-in-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T16:28:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T20:28:01","slug":"worlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-up-200-million-in-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/worlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-up-200-million-in-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Richest Musicians Snatched $200M in COVID Relief Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fworlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-up-200-million-in-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2009626&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Federal COVID Relief Program \u200bMismanaged, Benefiting Wealthy Entertainers<\/h2>\n<p>A federal \u2063COVID\u200c relief\u2063 program aimed at supporting entertainment \u2063venues impacted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/border-patrol-has-seized-more-fentanyl-so-far-this-than-in-all-of-2020-as-overdoses-surge\/\" title=\"Border Patrol Has Seized More Fentanyl So Far This Than In All Of 2020 As Overdoses Surge\">pandemic-related lockdowns<\/a> has come under scrutiny for its poor management. An investigation by Insider revealed that hundreds of millions of \u2063dollars may have ended up in\u200b the hands\u2063 of wealthy entertainers who did not actually need the money.<\/p>\n<p>The report named some of the \u2062richest beneficiaries of the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, including R&#038;B musician Chris Brown and artist Post \u200dMalone. Despite their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cardi-b-mariah-carey-complain-of-racial-discrimination-pay-disparity\/\" title=\"Cardi B, Mariah Carey Complain Of Racial Discrimination, Pay Disparity\">estimated net worths<\/a> of\u200c around $50 million \u2063each, both received $10 million\u2063 in federal grants.<\/p>\n<p>Other wealthy entertainers also profited from\u2062 the\u2064 grant program, which was \u2064administered by the Small Business Administration\u2064 (SBA). The SBA distributed a total of $14.5 billion in taxpayer money, which unlike loans\u2062 from the Paycheck Protection Program, does not have \u2063to be \u2064repaid.<\/p>\n<p>While the program was intended to support independent live venue operators, movie \u200dtheaters, and cultural institutions,\u2063 Insider found that many artists who did not demonstrate a genuine need \u200calso\u200b received significant \u2062amounts of money.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a Los Angeles-based\u200d financial management firm,\u2064 NKSFB, submitted grant \u2064requests for 97 clients,\u2064 resulting in over a\u2062 quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer funds. \u2064The firm&#8217;s \u2063cut from\u200c successfully obtaining the grants \u200bremains undisclosed.<\/p>\n<p>The program&#8217;s rules allowed recipients\u200d to pay up to 15 percent of the funds received to those who prepared their \u2064grant applications. However, the complex rules led to a high denial rate, with 30 percent of applications \u2063being rejected compared to a much lower rate for PPP loans.<\/p>\n<h3>Recognition and Defense<\/h3>\n<p>New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who sponsored \u200dthe program, was honored\u2063 by the Recording Academy for his role in passing the funding bill. The SBA defended the program, stating that it had \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/worlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-up-200-million-in-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report\/\" title=\"Report: Richest Musicians Snatched 0M in COVID Relief Grants\">helped save numerous entertainment venues<\/a> and operators during \u2062the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Despite criticisms, some individuals, like Meredith Lynsey Schade, who managed an off-off-Broadway theater company in 2020, defended the \u200cprogram, acknowledging the lack of oversight but emphasizing\u2062 the urgent need for support during challenging times.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the \u2062mismanagement of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/planned-parenthood-still-receiving-millions-in-small-business-pandemic-relief\/\" title=\"Planned Parenthood Still Receiving Millions In Small Business Pandemic Relief\">federal relief program<\/a> has raised concerns about the allocation\u2064 of\u2063 taxpayer funds and the fairness of distribution among those truly \u2062in need.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I was so honored to be recognized at this year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RecordingAcad?\">@RecordingAcad<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GRAMMYsontheHill?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GRAMMYsontheHill<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>My love for music runs deep.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I made it my mission \u200cto pass the Save Our Stages Act,\u200b and I\u2019ll keep up the work \u200bto support the music \u200cand performance industry. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/z1OCg22RAU\">pic.twitter.com\/z1OCg22RAU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u200d Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenSchumer\/status\/1651419476842225668?\">April 27, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/worlds-richest-musicians-gobbled-200-million-taxpayer-covid-relief-grants-report\/\">World&#8217;s Richest Musicians Gobbled Up $200 Million in Taxpayer COVID Relief Grants: Report<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal COVID relief program for entertainment venues, affected by lockdowns, was mismanaged. An Insider investigation revealed that wealthy entertainers, who didn&#8217;t require financial aid, may have received hundreds of millions of dollars. The report named individuals involved in this mishandling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2010,"featured_media":2009627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2009626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2009626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2009626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2009626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2009626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}