In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-home orders, things got pretty bleak for a lot of full-time artists, musicians and crew members. This led to a program called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which was established as a way to help out struggling venues and artists. According to a new report from Business Insider, which reviewed thousands of documents related to the grants, many artists misused the funds they acquired via "loan-out companies — corporate entities used to handle the business of touring," which raises questions about the ethics and oversight of such programs.
Many artists received large sums of money, but this new report from Business Insider has led to speculation about how it was spent and why funds were not more closely monitored. Lil Wayne and Chris Brown allegedly misused millions of dollars on parties and designer clothing, while grunge legends Alice in Chains came under speculation for use of their grant money.
From the Business Insider article and report:
"According to the report, 'On March 23, 2022, records show, the Alice in Chains singer and guitarist Jerry Cantrell took in $1.4 million as an "SVOG distribution.' The band's drummer, Sean Kinney, received the same amount, and its bassist, Mike Inez, booked half that sum, about $682,000.
"In all, $3.4 million of the $4.1 million the grant allotted for payroll went to the three musicians at the top."
Business Insider notes that the month before they received the grant, Alice in Chains made $48 million selling the copyrights on their music catalogue. Some money was paid out to staff, videographers, rental firms and managers but grant money was not spent on things like health insurance or helping longtime guitar tech/crew member Scott Dachroeden when he became sick with cancer.
Alice in Chains shared a GoFundMe for Dachroeden, who is now deceased, and the band said they helped financially behind the scenes, but a person close to the situation told Business Insider that isn't true.
Whether or not there are consequences or further investigation, for either the artists who received money or the overseeing Small Business Administration, stemming from Business Insider's report is still to be seen.
