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JAY-Z
JAY-Z
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Media Company With Ties to JAY-Z's TIDAL Accepted $2 Million For COVID-19 Relief

The PPP loan follows mass lay-offs, furloughs and salary cuts for TIDAL and Roc Nation.

Malibu Entertainment, a company that has been linked to JAY-Z’s TIDAL reportedly accepted federal government loans for COVID-19 relief. 

According to a Variety report, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were between $2 million and $5 million, the exact amount was $2.1 million. The documents referencing Malibu Entertainment were released by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department. 

On April 7, the loan was approved, this came after TIDAL and Roc Nation laid off, furloughed and cut salaries of 10%-20% across the company. Per Variety each of these entities reportedly share addresses and are pivotal for TIDAL’s ability to be a business. One source alleges 15 TIDAL employees were laid off just last week. 

To be clear, on paper, Malibu is a separate company. Variety describes it as Black-owned motion picture and video production business headquartered in New York. But, it is a part of TIDAL’s infrastructure. It reportedly shares the two most recent addresses with both companies including Live Nation. 

Recently, Kanye West’s Yeezy LLC received negative feedback after accepting $2 million for relief as the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nation. We previously reported that the loan meant that 160 employees’ jobs were saved.

The swift March layoffs and furloughs were attributed to the crippling COVID-19 pandemic which almost immediately impacted music touring and sports, large parts of TIDAL and Roc Nation. Roc Nation was founded as a joint venture with Live Nation in 2008.