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Dozens of businesses controlled by big-name artists received government grants with no obligation to repay the money through a covid relief program called The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG).
Dubbed “Save Our Stages,” the aid bill was marketed or hyped to Congress and approved by Congress as supporting small venues and behind-the-scenes workers — not stadium-filling musicians.
Insider identified NKSFB, a single Los Angeles financial-management firm, that successfully submitted grants on behalf of 97 artists, venues, and managers, securing more than $250 million in grant payouts, including more than $200 million for big-name artists alone.
While many venues didn’t qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program — which was a loan — qualified applicants of Shuttered Venue were eligible for up to $10 million in grants.
R&B artist Chris Brown got $10 million. Rapper Lil Wayne got $8.9 million. Nineties rockers The Smashing Pumpkins got $8.6 million. Nickelback got $2 million, Insider reported. Becky G got $2.2 million, Common got $2.8 million, Father John Misty got $1.7 million, Korn got $5.3 million, Leann Rimes got $2 million, Melissa Etheridge got $3.9 million, Slipknot got $9.7 million, Vampire Weekend got $8.3 million, and Usher got $3.1 million.
There’s no indication high-profile recipients used the Shuttered Venues funds unlawfully, Rolling Stone reported. The $14.5 billion aid program operated through the Small Business Administration was supposed to provide relief to music clubs, local theaters and other businesses connected to the live entertainment industry, such as artists and booking agencies.
Corporations and limited liability companies tied to prominent acts took advantage of this. The aid received by artists could have been used to pay crew members, contractors, or other out-of-work crews after concerts and tours were canceled. However, the rules allowed recipients to also spend the grants on things like mortgages, taxes, and payroll including personal payments.
The “Save Our Stages” grant program was supposed to keep arts organizations above water. Instead, $200 million went to big-name recording artists, “which means that many famous folks with seemingly healthy bank accounts reportedly raked in millions they’ll get to keep forever,” Eve Batey reported for Vanity Fair.
And it was legal.
The Small Business Administration defends its oversight of the Shuttered Venue program, Insider reported. The agency estimated in a June 2023 report that less than 1 percent of grants disbursed through SVOG were fraudulent.
By comparison, the SBA inspector general said that 8 percent of the $800 billion in loans disbursed by the Paycheck Protection Program during the lockdowns may have been fraudulent. The agency’s $400 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loans had a potential fraud rate of about 33 percent, according to the report.
Some recipients of covid relief blew the money on sports cars, luxury handbags, and gold, the inspector general found.
Prosecutors have called covid relief loans the largest fraud in U.S. history. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who oversaw covid relief spending, told “NBC Nightly News” that Covid relief programs were structured in ways that made them easy targets for fraud.
“The Small Business Administration, in sending that money out, basically said to people, ‘Apply and sign and tell us that you’re really entitled to the money,’” Horowitz said. “And, of course, for fraudsters, that’s an invitation. … What didn’t happen was even minimal checks to make sure that the money was getting to the right people at the right time.”
