“Hey guys, drop [your] cashapp,” Lil Nas X, 20, tweeted on Mar. 12, amid the growing panic over the outbreak of coronavirus. As events were getting canceled and Tom Hanks revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19, the “Rodeo” singer decided to pay his good fortune forward by offering to buy his fans dinner. “Gonna send some of [you] some money to go get some food then stay inside.” With cities across the United States declaring states of emergency and recommending people work from home and avoid large groups (to prevent the spread of the disease), many fans were thankful for Lil Nas X’s kind offer as they hunkered down.
He wasn’t the only major hip hop star opening up their wallets. “Hey hotties,” Megan Thee Stallion tweeted hours before Lil Nas X’s offer (perhaps giving him the idea.) “Since y’all have been so hard [in] supporting me, I wanna support y’all and bless them pockets real quick!!! We’re [about] to have a #SUGASPREE! Drop y’all’s CashApp names [below].” With Meg releasing her new album — amid her lawsuit with her record label – she was feeling generous and wanted to make sure her fans weren’t feeling a financial pinch during these hectic times.
In addition to the costs of bulking up on food and toiletries during a period of self-imposed quarantine, Rolling Stone notes that many in the U.S. service industry don’t have the luxury of staying home. With most of the industry workers operating without paid-time-off (PTO), they have to make the decision to call out of work and lose a day’s paycheck or risk infection by heading into work. Plus, RS notes that the lack of universal health care in the U.S. has rendered coronavirus testing both rare and expensive.
Hey hotties since y’all have been going so hard supporting me I wanna support y’all and bless them pockets real quick !!! We’re abt to have a #SUGASPREE ! Drop y’all’s cash app names👇🏾 #partner https://t.co/p7gNnE6ZJC
— HOT GIRL MEG (@theestallion) March 12, 2020
hey guys drop ur cashapp. gonna send some of u some money to go get some food then stay inside.
— nope (@LilNasX) March 12, 2020
U.S. lawmakers are working on a relief package, but Republican lawmakers have opposed the Democrats’ bill that would provide workers with 14 paid sick days and up to three months’ paid family and medical leave. It would also guarantee widespread free testing for COVID-19 and expand both food and unemployment assistance. Republican lawmakers have opposed these efforts. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the bill an “ideological wish list,” according to Slate, and President Donald Trump said the bill included “things …that had nothing to do of what we are talking about. It is not a way for them to get some of the goodies they have been able to get for the last 25 years.”