A $50,000 payment linked to a live Wild 'N Out event is reportedly under investigation by city officials in Stockton, California.
Per CBS News, the payment was allegedly made to the event promoter to ensure the show, which involved Stockton Vice Mayor and Hollywood Unlocked founder Jason Lee, wasn't canceled.
The show went down at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton back in May, and Lee shared videos from the event on social media. Now, the city manager's office has launched an investigation after the Stockton risk mitigation fund was allegedly used for the payment without prior approval from the manager.
Lee has claimed that the investigation is politically motivated and a response to his own investigation into the city manager's office, and he's requested an independent investigation into the claims surrounding the payment.
"This whole week has been a political witch hunt to prove somehow that the vice mayor conspired with city staff to go in the bank accounts to give $50,000 to a brand that lost $175,000 on top of the $50,000 in an approved fund that they've used in the past," Lee said on Monday (Aug. 4).
Lee added that the city's Audit Committee has already reviewed any potential connection between him and Wild 'N Out event promoter, ASM Global.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi confirmed that an outside investigator will look into the situation. She said that the payment did not go through the city manager's office despite protocol.
"Anything that has to do with disbursement of funds, the city manager should know about," Fugazi said.
In a post on Instagram, Lee said it's a "conspiracy" that he helped to bring the show to Stockton to allow himself, associates, and Nick Cannon to profit.
"Let’s be clear: Nick and the Wild ’N Out team came to Stockton as a favor to ME—to turn this city up and prove that we deserve world-class partnerships like Nick, Rip Michaels, and 5120 Entertainment," he wrote. "The attacks on our hardworking city staff for simply doing their jobs? Beyond disappointing."