FireAid‘s organizers said Tuesday that they’ve tasked the concert’s law firm, Latham & Watkins, to review the organization’s grant process as the charitable concert faces scrutiny from President Donald Trump and a congressman in California over how the $100 million the show had raised has been doled out so far.
Trump blasted FireAid over the weekend, taking to Truth Social to call the benefit show “a total disaster” and “another democrat inspired scam,” claiming that the $100 million the concert had raised is missing. Trump’s jabs at FireAid came before he once again attacked California Governor Gavin Newsom (calling him Newscum), alleging that the governor mismanaged fire response. Meanwhile, Kevin Kiley, a Republican congressman for California’s third district, had called for the Department of Justice to investigate how FireAid disbursed its donations, claiming “none of the $100 million donated went directly to L.A. victims, and nonprofits having nothing to do with fire relief received grants.”
FireAid issued a statement on Saturday on social media, posting that “there has been an increasing amount of misinformation being shared online about the distribution of FireAid funds,” further specifying that FireAid had already dispersed $75 million to 160 organizations, including food banks, nonprofits, schools and other local organizations. The remaining $25 million will be dispersed by the end of the year, FireAid said.
The scrutiny toward FireAid comes about six months after the concert was held at the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome in Los Angeles at the end of January. The concert was organized by music industry titan Irving Azoff, alongside Live Nation and L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, among others, while the Annenberg Foundation had been tasked with managing the funds the concert raised. FireAid was one of the most star-studded events in recent memory, bringing on the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Pink, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish and Green Day, among many others.
In a letter Latham & Watkins had sent to Kiley on behalf of FireAid on Tuesday, the firm had denied Kiley’s allegations of giving money to improper organizations for fire relief, claiming that “the organizations that have received funds are both worthy and have close relationships to the recovery efforts in response to the Fires.”
The firm also denied that FireAid’s raised funds had been diverted away from victims, stating that FireAid “disbursed grants to non-profits and organizations which are able to provide direct relief, across a broad spectrum of services, to survivors of the Fires and their communities.”
Latham & Watkins said in the letter to Kiley that the organizations that received FireAid grants are
“required to report on fund usage” so FireAid can verify the money is being used properly. The law firm, which has worked with FireAid since the event was first being organized, said it would
conduct “a comprehensive review of FireAid’s governance and grantmaking processes,” which Latham & Watkins said would “include assessing whether recipient organizations are using funds in alignment with FireAid’s stated purpose and commitments.”