According to a report from the Daily Beast's Kelly Weill, the Blexit Foundation created by rightwing provocateur Candace Owens for the purported purpose of converting Black Americans into conservatives, is seeing donations dry up -- dropping now to a third of the amount taken in compared to last year.
However, as the report states, that hasn't stopped Owen from increasing her pay while running up expenses.
As Weill wrote, "Founded in 2018, Blexit urges African-Americans to leave the Democratic Party, preferably to take up conservative politics. Amid racial justice protests in 2020, the Blexit Foundation reaped more than $7 million in donations. Now the organization is back in the public eye after its sometimes-collaborator Kanye West kicked off a firestorm of antisemitic comments, shortly after posing in 'White Lives Matter' shirts with Owens, and pledging to buy Parler, the rightwing social media site Owens’ husband runs."
With that in mind, Weill wrote that despite the collapse of fundraising, Owens jumped her pay up over $250,00 this year -- up from $230,000 from 2 years ago -- while other execs working for the foundation are also raking in six-figure salaries.
"Blexit’s most recent filing suggests. Last year, the foundation received $2,342,820 in contributions, less than a third of what it raised the previous year," the Beast report states. "Despite that, the org spent nearly $1 million more than it earned, with its total payments to employees nearly doubling. A sizable payment, $250,000 plus benefits, went to Owens. Another $612,000 went to fundraising, and $205,708 went to travel, some of which was first-class or charter."
Asked to respond, Owens issued a statement explaining, "In short, yes we raised money and proudly dispersed money for and to black businesses and continue to do so. Our filings are public, timely, and entirely comprehensive.”
The report notes that she refused to answer specific questions about disbursements, with Weill adding, "In 2021, the Blexit Foundation reported giving away just $4,000 in grants or other assistance. The recipients are unclear; on public tax filings, nonprofits that have not donated more than $5,000 are not required to fill out additional information about recipients.
Owens repeatedly declined to clarify to The Daily Beast how much Blexit had given to Black-owned businesses."
You can read more here.
