Senator Exposes Chris Brown's Pandemic Grant Scandal

0:00On May 2nd, Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa straight up called out rapper Chris Brown on the Senate floor this week. She accused his company of grabbing $10 million from the shuttered venue operator's grant, a pandemic relief program meant for struggling music. Venues. Instead, Brown allegedly used part of it for an $80,000 birthday bash and pocketed $5 million for himself. This grant was supposed to keep entertainment spots alive during lockdowns, but it turned into easy cash for some big names. Brown's crew reportedly blew over $179,000 on a celebrity basketball event and $24,000 to bus. The tour rig to Mexico for a vacation with no shows. Republicans have been hammering this as a prime example of waste, and folks are fired up about taxpayers funding celebrity splurges. The government accountability office dug in and found about $10 billion in shady payments across the program. Way more than anyone first.

1:01Thought. Meanwhile, artists like Lil Wayne, Post Malone, and others scored millions too, dropping it on private jets, designer gear, and more personal perks. While crews got short-changed, over 2,000 people have already faced sentences for pandemic fraud, but none of these stars have charges yet. The Senate just passed a bill stretching the Fraud Prosecution window from 5 to 10 years, so watch for more heat coming down the line on these. Killing Grius. This has been Music News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with The Story.