Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors denied allegations of misusing millions of dollars in donation funds in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) released Monday.
Cullors quietly purchased a $6 million mansion in the Los Angeles Studio City neighborhood in October 2020 just two weeks after the organization received a $66.5 million cash infusion from a former fiscal sponsor. The property consists of a seven-bedroom home consisting of a “custom wrought iron staircase,” and bathrooms with “calcatta gold stone,” three fireplaces and “carrara marble.”
Cullors doubled down, claiming very few Black-led organizations own property but had not benefitted from the purchase, AP reported.
“No, I have never used Black Lives Matter donations to pay for any of the properties that I owned in the past or own right now,” she claimed. “The idea that (the organization) received millions of dollars and then I hid those dollars in my bank account is absolutely false. That’s a false narrative. It’s impacted me personally and professionally, that people would accuse me of stealing from Black people.”
Justin Hansford, director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights at Howard University, said buying the property would be used as a criticism tactic by opponents, then cause people to refrain from donating to Black-led organizations, the outlet reported.
In April, the founder accused BLM critics of being “racist and sexist” after investigative journalist Sean Kevin Campbell published a piece on the purchase in the New York Magazine. (RELATED: BLM Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors Has Funneled Business To Company Run By Father Of Her Only Child, Records Show)
“Yesterday’s article in New York Magazine is a despicable abuse of a platform that’s intended to provide truthful information to the public,” she said in an April 6 Instagram post. “Journalism is supposed to mitigate harm and inform our communities. That fact that a reputable publication would allow a reporter, with a proven and very public bias against me and other Black leaders, to write a piece filled with misinformation, innuendo and incendiary opinions, is disheartening and unacceptable.”
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, the foundation reeled in $90 million in fundraising while Cullors served as the executive director, according to the AP. She then blamed the organization’s “lack of transparency” about the board.
“I thought practicing radical transparency with Black people would have been received well,” she said, according to AP. “What was unhelpful about releasing it was not getting enough people allying with us about it. We weren’t the only organization to receive millions of dollars.”