January’s FireAid benefit was a huge success, as donations poured in during live performances by an all-star cast. The concert, produced by Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and mega-agent Irving Azoff, was said to have raised a total of $100 million.
A growing number of critics are now questioning where the money is going. California lawmaker Kevin Kiley called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation. The Palisades Community Council sent a letter to event organizers and sponsors at the Annenberg Foundation asking for disclosure of all payments and how they were allocated. President Donald Trump is now describing the whole thing as a “scam.”
Every dollar raised was matched by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. The pro basketball club also absorbed the costs of putting on the concert. Organizers say the plan was then to direct these funds toward non-profit organizations, rather than making individual grants.
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They’ve since released details on stipends sent to nearly 190 groups serving more than 150,000 people in Los Angeles. Some $75 million has already been allocated. “From food and housing to legal aid and direct cash assistance, trusted local organizations have delivered meaningful relief to people in need — and we’re committed to making that impact clear,” Chris Wallace, chief communications officer for the Clippers, told Fox11 in Los Angeles.
Performers at the two-venue benefit included Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills, Sting, Joni Mitchell, the Black Crowes, Slash, Green Day and a reunion of the surviving members of Nirvana, among others. They helped raise $1.25 million that went to the L.A. Regional Food Bank, where more drivers, warehouse workers and forklift operators have been hired to help with receiving and distributing donations, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Other grants were received from groups involved with “housing, mental health, childcare and ecological resilience.” A local company received $250,000 for debris removal. The direct-aid group Change Reaction has distributed grants of up to $15,000 to 2,500 recipients for rent and transportation needs, the Times reported.
Were Funds Misdirected From the FireAid Benefit?
Some Los Angeles-era homeowners who lost everything in the fires at Altadena and Pacific Palisades, however, say they have never been contacted about aid. Meanwhile, Kiley pointed to at least one beneficiary as an example of misdirected funds: Sonoma, California-based After the Fire, which describes its mission as “coaching, convening and collaborating,” has no clear ties to L.A.
The California Native Vote Project, a group focused on “civic engagement,” has reportedly returned FireAid’s grant money. “If there are other examples like [the California Native Vote Project], of where maybe the funds were not allocated to the right type of organizations,” Kiley said last week on the California House floor, “then they can be redirected to the kind of organizations or ultimately to what will most expeditiously get the funds to the victims themselves, many of whom are struggling to rebuild.”
Trump and others have questioned the role that state government and Gov. Gavin Newsom have played in the granting process. When those concerns were shared by Los Angeles magazine, Newsom’s office pointed to a recent social-media post: “We’ll say it again … FireAid isn’t a state organization, and we played no role in this independent charity.”
FireAid Photos
Music’s biggest stars perform to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires
Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
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