A new report from the Daily Beast reveals that Trump loyalist and Billionaire musician Kanye West recently received a multi-million dollar payout from the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP has been an essential service provided by the federal government to assist small businesses in retaining employees during the coronavirus pandemic
Kanye West recently crossed the $1 billion threshold as a businessman, a huge accomplishment for the 43-year-old. However, questions of a conflict of interest have become intertwined in Yeezy LLC as the company accepted a multi-million dollar aide package from the Trump Administrations Cares Act.
West has been an outspoken supporter of Trump and has visited the President on multiple occasions at the White House. Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian West has worked with the president personally in criminal justice reform and successfully advocated for the release of non-violent criminals who received harsh sentences in the past.
Yeezy received the small business loan that is reportedly worth between $2-$5 million. Yeezy’s company claims that 106 jobs were saved because of the loan according to CBS News. This news comes as Yeezy Brand landed a 10 year contract with Gap inc. to release “Yeezy Gap” clothing starting in 2021.
With West reaching the billionaire tax bracket, another question is whether or not that 2-5 million dollars is needed for his company, or could the rapper/fashion designer could have come out of pocket for the 160 employees as some other business owners have done during the pandemic.
The Trump administration granted $2 trillion in funds for small businesses and some bigger organizations like the fast food chain Shake Shack have turned down as much as $10 million to allow more funds to allocate to smaller businesses who need it more.
Kanye nor his company spokesperson have responded to this report by the Daily Beast.
