July 19, 2016 – WCTV
by Matt Galka, Capitol News Service
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — His nicknames include ‘Mr. 305’ and ‘Mr. Worldwide’ and one state agency believes rapper Pitbull can draw more people to the Florida. Now we’re learning that the rapper recently got paid with state money for his new video… but exactly how much remains a secret.
Pitbull’s new song titled “Sexy Beaches,” is an ode to dozens of Florida’s beaches and scantily clad women. State tourism agency Visit Florida hopes it’s also a reason for more people to come to the sunshine state.
Pitbull is getting paid to attract visitors to Florida, we just don’t know how many taxpayer dollars he’s actually getting. The rapper inked a deal with Visit Florida last year. The agency receives around $80 million dollars in taxpayer funding, but the details of the contract are being kept secret, with Visit Florida citing they’d be revealing trade secrets.
Barbara Petersen with the First Amendment Foundation says that’s not fair to Floridians.
“Visit Florida is claiming that the amount of taxpayer dollars they’re paying Pitbull to promote the tourism interests of Florida is secret. This is our money…how do we know we are getting our money’s worth if we don’t know what he’s being paid?” she said. [READ MORE]