Mary J. Blige's Charity Sued for Unpaid Bills

Five years ago doors opened at the Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, known as FFAWN, a charity to help women. Now, according to the New York Post, the R&B diva's organization, which she began with marketing executive Steve Stoute, has come under fire for failing to pay its vendors, file taxes and repay a $250,000 loan to TD Bank.

The Post reports:

It failed to file its federal tax returns for 2010, which were due last November, along with its annual state-charity registration. The charity has now been hit with two lawsuits — one claiming the group musicians at its 2011 fund-raising gala and another saying it defaulted on a $250,000 loan, The Post has learned. Blige, known as the “queen of hip-hop soul,” touted the charity's success on the “Today” show in late 2010, saying, “I sent 25 women to college.”

She was promoting her fragrance, My Life, which sold a record 60,000 bottles on the Home Shopping Network during its six-hour debut in 2010. One dollar from each sale was supposed to benefit The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, known as FFAWN ...

Where the $60,000 from the fragrance sale and other donations went is a mystery. The group's 2010 annual report has nothing on its finances for that year.

Read more at the New York Post.

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