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Lil Yachty expressed his belief that the Black Lives Matter Foundation—not to be confused withe concept of “Black Lives Matter”—is a “scam” while appearing on a recent YouTube show.
Lil Yachty has gone viral due to his expressing a belief that the Black Lives Matter Foundation is fraudulent. The Let’s Start Here rapper was a guest on the recent episode of the Feeding Starving Celebrities show on YouTube. Quen Blackwell, a comedian and social media star, asked Lil Yachty at the 31:51 mark of the interview how much he contributed to charities for the year. “You spent $100,000 on a trip to Disney World once. How much have you spent on charitable causes this year?” Blackwell asked. He struggled to come up with an answer, and Blackwell then suggested, “BLM? Since you want to be so Black power.” Lil Yachty quickly replied, “BLM is a scam.”
“Clip that! Send it to the f*cking news,” Blackwell joked, staring into the camera. “BLM was a—it was literally a scam,” Yachty replied. “They had bought mansions. You wouldn’t know anything about that, ‘cause you don’t care about Black people.” The two then verbally sparred a bit, with Blackwell stating “I’m the most pro-Black person in this room,” to which Lil Yachty responded, “But you have an all-white staff?” Blackwell defended the group, claiming they were “POC.”
Lil Yachty was referencing allegations against the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation of misusing donations it received after it was revealed in 2022 that the foundation purchased a property in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, with an estimated value of $6 million. The six-bedroom and bathroom home with a soundstage and office space was meant to be a compound for Black artists and activists, said Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors in an interview with the Associated Press at the time. “We really wanted to make sure that the global network foundation had an asset that wasn’t just financial resources,” Cullors said. “And we understood that not many Black-led organizations have property. They don’t own their property.”
Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometti formed the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in 2013 as an organization with a decentralized network of local chapters. Supporters had criticized the purchase of the home, stating that it could be used as a tool by opponents to force others not to donate to Black-led social justice organizations. Cullors stepped down as the foundation’s executive director in 2021, with Monifa Bandele and Makani Themba stepping in.
