Sharon Osbourne Urges Billionaire Kanye West To Give Back Government Loan

Sharon Osbourne has called on Kanye West to return the government loan he received to ensure his Yeezy employees continued to be paid during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Forbes, Yeezy received between $2 million and $5 million through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and said it saved 106 jobs, according to a report disclosed by the U.S. Treasury’s Small Business Administration (SBA).

Kanye owns 100% of the company which Forbes estimates brought in close to $1.3 billion in 2019.

Appearing on the US chat show The Talk on Tuesday, Sharon discussed the sum, branding the rapper “embarrassing” for accepting hand-outs despite his apparent wealth.

“I thought it was like mama and papa type companies that really don’t have that much profit in the bank [who received those loans]... [who] need help to keep people’s jobs and everybody going,” she said.

“I just think that when you have that sort of cash, it’s embarrassing to ask when you have it yourself. You have it, you have more than enough to keep 100 people going, so why ask the government, take from the government?”

She added: “I just don’t get that. When you are so wealthy, your family, everybody in your family is so wealthy, why are you doing this? I think he should give the money back.”

Last week, Kanye shared a post congratulating his wife Kim Kardashian West on officially being named a billionaire, just a few months after Forbes reported that he’d also reached the milestone.

Sharon also took issue with this at the time, admitting it made her “cringe” when people spoke about their wealth, particularly during the pandemic. 

She said: “It isn’t the right time to show off your wealth but, hey, some ­people, that is what they do.

“I have never been keen on that anyway, whether there is a pandemic or not. I never believe in that. For me I cringe when people do it.”