Lil Wayne reportedly told the government his touring company was a “drug-free” workplace in order to secure $9 million in federal aid.
According to Business Insider, he warned his employees about the “dangers” of drugs and said they could be punished or ordered to rehab if they were caught using. Subsequently, the Small Business Administration (SBA) moved forward with Lil Wayne’s request, and the government cut a $8.9 million check to his company Young Money Touring Inc.
Post Malone allegedly did something similar, telling the SBA his touring company was anti-drugs. But during a 2020 interview with Joe Rogan, he copped to taking mushrooms while recording. The documents Lil Wayne and Post Malone signed were just the tip of the iceberg. The SBA likely didn’t investigate their requests at all in its rush to cut checks. Last year, the agency’s inspector general admitted employees had just four hours to review applications.
In a statement, the SBA said it didn’t cover “personal actions” of people like Lil Wayne and Post Malone or any drug use outside the period from March 2020 to June 2022.
“When you have social status, your substance use is treated in a different way,” Harold Pollack, a public-health expert at the University of Chicago, said. “They don’t brutalize a lot of celebrities for behaviors that we would very harshly treat in people with less prestige.”
Post Malone and Lil Wayne’s companies were among the recipients of aid under the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which was intended to help struggling music venues avoid bankruptcy. As with many federal programs, recipients had to certify they followed federal laws.
“The fact that touring artists have a different lifestyle doesn’t mean that they weren’t impacted in a substantial way by the pandemic,” Josh Schiller, a lawyer who has represented clients in the entertainment industry and sued to legalize marijuana, said. “Was there a better use of those grants? I think that’s really a good question.”
Lil Wayne has never hid his love for marijuana and other substances. In fact, he has the word “baked” tattooed on his face. The $9 million grant could come back to bite him though. The SBA told applicants that they could be sued or even prosecuted for lying.