Her charity is facing two lawsuits and allegations of corrupt practices, but hip hop star Mary J. Blige says that she’ll do whatever it takes to get her foundation “back on track.”
The Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now was established to empower women with its education and career programs, but a slew of recent reports have found that the charity is actually running a shady operation.
According to the New York Post, Blige’s charity has neither an office nor a phone number and hundreds of thousands of donation dollars are missing. Additionally, it didn’t file its federal tax returns for 2010 (which were due last November) or its annual state-charity registration.
But that’s not all.
TD Bank is suing the singer’s foundation over a $250,000 loan it took out last June 2011, TMZ reports. It was supposed to have been repaid by December, but the bank has only received $368.33.
While Blige claims she wasn’t aware of the mismanagement, she is taking full responsibility for the foundation’s downfall.
"As Founder and CEO of FFAWN, I am ultimately responsible for anything that goes wrong,” the star said according to TMZ. “The problem is that I didn't have the right people in the right places doing the right things. This should have never been allowed to happen, but it did and now we are fixing it."
To get started on “fixing” her foundation, Blige has already hired a new team of managers and experts.
"FFAWN is not closing down," Blige said, according to the New York Post. "FFAWN is working as quickly as possible with a new team of experts that includes a philanthropic consulting firm, a non-profit law firm, and a forensic accountant. Their goal is to get the foundation back on track, rectify outstanding issues, and make good on all of FFAWN's obligations.”