Remember Wyclef Jean? That dude who rapped alongside Lauryn Hill in the song “Killing Me Softly?” To say he dropped off the map would be an understatement. The singer literally hasn’t been heard of in a positive light since the ’90s, but like any D-list celebrity, he managed to steal the spotlight for a short period of time after he was outed for being a total a**hole in 2012.
The Haitian rapper was busted for corruption after his charity Yele – an organization that was supposed to help Haitians after 2004’s Hurricane Jeanne – was a fraud. According to The Daily Mail, donations were spent frivolously and were often used to chauffeur around other celebrities.
In one case, the group allegedly shelled out $30,763 to fly Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan from New Jersey to a charity event in Chicago that raised $66,000.
In another instance, Yele spent nearly $58,000 on private jets to fly actor Matt Damon and Jean’s other celebrity friends to Haiti.
It was also used for ballin headquarters, which would normally be fine if it weren’t for the fact that he was spending donated money.
Following the earthquake, Yele spent $9million of its $16million on office space, workers’ salaries and other expenses.
About $600,000 in donations went toward Yele’s headquarters, which have since been abandoned; another $375,000 was used to cover ‘landscaping’ costs; and more than $470,000 was spent on food and beverages.
The singer, who made an unsuccessful bid for Haiti’s presidency in 2010, reportedly paid himself $100,000 to perform in a charity concert and gave his family over $500,000 for unspecified work. Also, $37,000 was paid by Yele to cover the rent of Jean’s Manhattan studio.
As for projects that were meant to help Haiti, none of them ever off the ground. According to The Daily Mail, the group paid $146,000 to build a medical center inside geodesic domes and another $93,000 to erect temporary housing, but neither project was completed.
In short: the dude is a total d*ck. Yet despite his controversial past, Wyclef Jean couldn’t say no to just one more second in the limelight. He decided to do a Reddit AMA which, if he knew anything about the Internet at all, was probably the worst decision he’s ever made.
The thread grossed well over 1400 comments, but sadly none were ever answered.
Virtually each question posed to the singer was about his corrupt background, and let’s just say, Redditors didn’t go easy on him.
Here’s a taste of how it went:
Yikes. Honestly though, what was he expecting? A parade of questions asking how the weather is? Sorry Wyclef, but you had this coming.
So, what are the chances we’ll ever hear from him again? We’d say not likely – that’s going to be hard to come back from.
