There’s a possibility that a Northern Californian’s good gesture could be severely punished after the city hall receives information that city officials may have been involved in funding for a marquee comedic event starring Nick Cannon.
In mid-May, Cannon’s highly successful comedy improv brand Wild ‘n’ Out performed a live event as part of their nationwide tour in Stockton, CA.
The event was held in the Adventist Health Arena, featuring Cannon, alongside Stockton native and Vice Mayor Jason Lee, and many other favorites from the all-star cast. The event was labeled an entertaining experience as attendees flooded social media with photos from the show and positive comments towards the performers and organizers.
Recently, Stockton’s ABC10 News obtained emails filled with information saying that the city of Stockton provided $50,000.00 in funding to the event promoter to avoid possible event cancellation one day before the May 24th event date.
The promoter asked the arena for $150,000 in support to keep the show going on, but the arena could only find $100,00.
An arena official then asked City Hall for the extra $50,000, saying that a cancellation could deter future arena events and that it could hurt the city’s economy, with at least 10 other events already having been canceled this year.
The city’s economic development director found the money in the city’s risk mitigation fund and offered it up. The event at the arena involved Vice Mayor Lee, who said he helped bring it to Stockton.
Some of the controversy was brought up during an audit committee meeting Monday night at City Hall.
“This really whole week has been about 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 $170,000 on top of the $50,000 of an approved fund that they had used in the past,” Lee said.
“It was also an opportunity to silence the voice of staff who are bringing forth serious concerns with respect to internal controls that are out of control.”
The emails also revealed that the interim city manager asked the economic development director last week for clarification about the payment and raised questions about oversight and how the funds were being used.
Tina McCarty, director of Stockton’s Economic Development Department, said she “approved the use of up to $50K to help the promoter of Wild ‘N Out with potential losses, encouraging the show to continue without cancellation,” in a July 5 email to Deputy City Manager Chad Reed. She added that the city’s contribution “allowed the show to feel more comfortable with their potential loss including the need to drop pricing to encourage greater attendance.”
Not one to shy away from the matter, Vice Mayor Jason Lee also commented on the situation in an Instagram post, which can be read in full below.
“A few weeks ago, I got tipped off that there was a conspiracy brewing—claims that I “brought Wild ’N Out to Stockton” and influenced decisions so Nick Cannon, my friends, and I could 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. The attacks on our hardworking city staff for simply doing their jobs? Beyond disappointing.
Today, we agendized it in the Audit Committee… and it was crickets. Instead, management praised Wild ’N Out for their professionalism, and our community LOVED every moment.
Clips are coming soon—but let me say this: to my haters, if you can’t outwork me in policy, opportunity, or inspiration, work harder. Because making up lies to do reputational harm won’t work when I’ve got the heart of the people.
Shout out to our amazing city staff for showing up every day despite the politics. Stockton, we’re just getting started.”
Later in the day, interim City Manager Steve Colangelo said he had launched an investigation into how $50,000 was disbursed without his knowledge or approval and, additionally, “whether boundaries between policymaking and administration were crossed,” referencing Lee’s involvement without using his name.
Jason Lee is best known as the founder of Hollywood Unlocked and former host of the podcast Hollywood Unlocked with Jason Lee and the television series The Jason Lee Show. He gained popularity for his recurring appearances in the reality series Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood and Wild ‘n’ Out.
Lee would be appointed Vice Mayor of his hometown of Stockton, CA in Janurary 2025 along with Chair of the Audit Committee. He has stated that his mission is to ensure fiscal integrity and fix what’s broken in the city of Stockton. He’s reportedly already uncovered and corrected payroll and accounting errors that were costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2022.
Beginning on MTV in 2005, Wild ‘n’ Out is a comedic series that revolves around conventional improvisational comedy games with a hip-hop flavor, hosted by Nick Cannon. Celebrity guest stars lead teams of comics in a series of comedy challenges, earning points towards their total score. The freestyle show has featured some of TV’s most viral moments from Kevin Hart, Iggy Azalea, Shaquille O’Neal, Snoop Dogg, Zendaya, T-Pain, French Montana, Wyclef, Kanye West, Jay Leno and Ryan Lewis.
In November 2012, it was announced that the series would be returning in 2013 after a six-year hiatus. The revival features celebrities, along with the show’s current cast. The fifth season premiered on MTV2 to 1.1 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated telecast in the network’s history. The show would continue on MTV2 for three seasons.
The series had been renewed through Season 27, with 90 new episodes to be produced.
Over the past couple of years, stand-up comedy entertainment has seen record highs in touring revenue all across the nation and unimaginable lows, with ticket revenue for comedy clubs and smaller venues down 30%, the lowest since before the global pandemic.
In the last five years, iconic comedy staples such as Uptown Comedy Corner, Caroline’s Comedy Club, and Chuckles Comedy Club have been forced to close their doors due in large part to low attendance revenue.
