*The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created in 2020 to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some high-profile celebrities, including Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, are accused of misusing the funds.
According to recent reports citing federal data, these artists received millions in PPP loans, with Brown securing $2 million and Lil Wayne over $1 million, Business Insider reports. However, instead of using the money for business expenses as intended, they allegedly spent it on personal luxuries. This misuse of funds has raised concerns about whether the celebrities will face legal consequences, with critics questioning the effectiveness and oversight of the program.
Meanwhile, NBC News reports that billionaire property developer Joe Farrell received up to $1 million in taxpayer coronavirus relief funds, according to data released by the Small Business Administration. Paul Pelosi, husband of the Speaker of the House, also received PPP money between $350,000 to $1 million. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian was criticized online after receiving funds under the program.
Other notable figures who benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program include multimillionaires Kanye West and pop artist Jeff Koons. Ye’s apparel brand Yeezy LLC was granted up to $5 million while Koons received a loan of up to $2 million to support 53 jobs. The Church of Scientology, which is reportedly worth at least $1 billion, also received PPP loans.
According to Karin Pouw, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International, “Loans were received by a handful of individual Churches to assist them during the pandemic.”
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“PPP was sold to the American people as a program to help Mom-and-Pop shops keep their lights on during the pandemic,” Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a government watchdog group, said. “The reality is that the Trump administration created a program that helped the well-connected cut to the front of the line to get these loans.”
“Even if they technically could argue that they did meet the criteria, taking the money clearly violates the spirit of the law and just seems greedy and wrong. This is one of the reasons why transparency is so important, why the government fought against it so hard and why a full accounting of recipients and details is so important,” said Neil Barofsky, former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
“PPP was created to retain jobs,” SBA spokesman Jim Billimoria said in an email to NBC News. “I can’t speculate on what borrowers used funds for.”
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