I don't know if my memory/timeline are correct, but if Scott worked on that first single about 2 years ago, then wouldn't that be right around the time of his STP firing, as well as around the time in which he suggested Velvet Revolver were getting back together again?
If that's the case, I can see Scott taking up this project as just a reach for something to do at a point when he had nothing to fall back on. At that point even though the Wildabouts were together, they were just touring his solo catalogue and getting ready for "Purple at the Core"
Could it be that Scott took the cash for the first song, then committed to the rest of the album when the rest of his musical interests were either broken or stagnant? But a year or so later he gets inspired enough to make the Wildabouts a real thing and in his own mind just writes off AOA?
Either way, Scott could be a bit more classy in referencing AOA. I'm sure he's annoyed to be getting asked about that when he's trying to promote Blaster, but c'mon you don't have to call that work a "Scam" or that you don't even know their names....
Why wouldn't he just keep his mouth shut and see where the AOA stuff goes. Lord knows he regularly states that cash flow is important for him.