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Fyre Festival founder’s new project revealed

Notorious Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is to star in new documentary After the Fyre following his early release from prison.

The 30-year-old was jailed in 2018 and fined US$26 million for his role in the disastrous festival, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam.

Fans paid between $1,500 and $50,000 to attend the 2017 festival on the island of Grand Exuma in the Bahamas, with the promise of luxury accommodation, gourmet food and music. However, the event spectacularly collapsed on its first day, as ticket-holders arrived to find half-built tents, insufficient food and a dearth of performers upon arrival.

A partnership between content creator Fremantle and production house AMPLE Entertainment, After the Fyre will accompany McFarland as he re-emerges in the outside world and returns to the Bahamas to launch his new business venture, a treasure hunt called PYRT, after serving four years of his six-year prison sentence.

“Billy McFarland has re-emerged, energised and with an even more audacious plan than the last as he looks to clear his name and repay his debtors”

Principal photography has already started on the documentary, which will pick up where Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened left off in early 2019 and follow McFarland’s attempts to pay back the $26m he still owes.

“After a considerable amount of time in solitary, millennial’s favourite conman Billy McFarland has re-emerged, energised and with an even more audacious plan than the last as he looks to clear his name and repay his debtors,” says Harry Gamsu, Fremantle’s VP acquisitions. “This is the doc-sequel audiences have been crying out for and we’re delighted to have partnered with Ample to make it happen.”

McFarland teased PYRT last month in a since-deleted TikTok video, where he admitted to the shortcomings of the 2017 event.

 

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Talent agencies embroiled in Fyre Fest lawsuit

A Fyre Festival trustee has filed a lawsuit against major talent agencies, demanding a return of fees paid to artists they represented to play in the failed event.

Multiple artists were paid to perform at the festival, at which no music was ever played, despite fans paying between $1,500 and $50,000 for tickets. Festival organiser Billy McFarland was later given a six-year prison sentence for fraud and ordered to pay a $23 million fine.

A festival trustee is now attempting to sue Creative Artists Agency (CAA), United Talent Agency (UTA), ICM Partners and Nue Agency for a collective sum of over US$1.75m.

New York’s Nue Agency is facing the greatest amount, with the trustee reportedly asking for the return of $730,000 paid to Pusha T, Desiigner and Tyga.

The lawsuit is also seeking $585,000 from CAA, who represent Fyre headliners Blink-182 in North America, Australia and Mexico. CAA is also reportedly being sued for the fees paid to Claptone, Bedouin (North America) and Lee Burridge (the Americas, Asia, Australia).

CAA, UTA, ICM Partners and Nue Agency are being sued for a collective sum of over $1.75m

The trustee is demanding $350,00 from LA-based ICM Partners for the fees paid to artists Lil Yachty (North America), Migos (North America) and Rae Sremmurd (now CAA), whereas UTA is being asked for the return of $90,000 paid to Skepta (North America).

The same individual has filed lawsuits against models Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, for the $275,000 and $300,000 they were paid respectively for promoting the festival on Instagram with a “clear lack of good faith”.

Saddleback Cay, the Bahamian island featuring in much of Fyre Festival’s promotional material, has recently been put up for sale at $11.8m.

The trustee is also seeking to void the transfer of $14.4m from the festival to parent company Fyre Media, of which $11m was allegedly transferred to McFarland.

 

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Island of Fyre Festival fame up for sale

Saddleback Cay, the Bahamian island that served as the backdrop for the ill-fated Fyre Festival’s infamous promotional material, has been put up for sale at US$11.8 million.

The 35-acre private island is located in the northernmost section of the Exuma Cays, which contains Great Exuma, the actual setting for the festival.

Saddleback Cay appears in opening of a promotional video for the event, which shows Instagram models and influencers partying in the Bahamas.

Fyre Festival – billed as “the adventure of a lifetime” amid the “beautiful turquoise waters and idyllic beaches” of the Bahamas – spectacularly collapsed on its first day, with festivalgoers arriving on the island to find a half-built festival site and no sign of the luxury accommodation and dining included with their $1,500–$50,000 tickets.

The fallout from the festival and the demise of its fraudulent organiser, has been closely documented, with streaming service Netflix and Hulu each releasing documentaries about the event.

A GoFundMe page, set up for local caterers who were unpaid by organisers, has so far raised $231,754.

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Online fund raises over $100,000 for unpaid Fyre festival staff

The release of a Netflix documentary investigating the fraudulent Fyre Festival has sparked an online campaign to reimburse unpaid Bahamian workers who lost life savings in the Fyre fiasco.

A GoFundMe page set up by local catering staff who received no payment for their work with the festival has raised US$129,606 in just seven days. Almost 4,000 people have donated to the page which has almost met its $123,000 target.

The owners of a local restaurant that catered for Fyre Festival staff set up the page following the airing of a Netflix documentary on Friday. The film raised awareness for the many Bahamian workers left unpaid by organisers of the disastrous festival.

Maryann Rolle, owner of Exuma Point Restaurant Bar and Grill, explains in an interview for the documentary how she lost $50,000 of her life savings due to the festival’s failings.

“My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest”

“It has been an unforgettable experience catering to the organisers of Fyre Festival. Back in April 2017 I pushed myself to the limit catering no less than a 1,000 meals per day,” writes Rolle on the GoFundMe page.

“As I make this plea it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid… I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest.”

The online fundraiser has verified the page, which has received the endorsement of the film’s producers.

Festival organiser and “serial fraudster”, Billy McFarland, received a six year prison sentence and US$26 million fine for his role in the festival, defrauding investors, fans and staff alike.

 

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Fyre Festival company placed into bankruptcy

Robert Knuts, a lawyer representing three Fyre Festival investors, has said he is looking forward “to finding out where the money went” after successfully forcing the company behind the doomed event into bankruptcy.

New York judge Martin Glenn placed Fyre Festival LLC into chapter-seven bankruptcy, or liquidation, on Tuesday, following pressure from Knuts’s Sher Tremonte law firm, which is aiming to recoup US$530,000 invested in the disastrous Bahamas festival by John Nemeth, Raul Jimenez and Andrew Newman.

As part of the ruling, Glenn has ordered Fyre Festival LLC to prepare documents showing all monies owed by the company.

Though Knuts represents a group of more than 20 investors (who collectively lent the festival some $4 million), theirs is just one of a number of lawsuits targeting Fyre Festival and its organisers, Billy McFarland, Ja Rule and their company Fyre Media.

Lawyers seek big wins over Fyre Festival woes

McFarland, who became the public face of the festival, was arrested in July, charged with operating a “scheme to defraud investors” out of almost $1.2m. He was later released on bail, and is currently in plea-bargain negotiations with the US government.

 

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Fyre promoters barred from Bahamas as suits mount

While all who attended last month’s disastrous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas have been offered tickets to next year’s event in lieu of refunds, organisers are increasingly looking like they will be forced to find a new home for 2018.

In the run-up the festival – which has since spawned several lawsuits after collapsing on its chaotic first day – promoters promised “the adventure of a lifetime” amid the “beautiful turquoise waters and idyllic beaches” of the island of Grand Exuma.

Billy McFarland, who established the festival with rapper Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins), told The New York Times on 28 April the next instalment would be outside the Bahamas, likely “on a beach in the United States”; now, the Bahamian government has reportedly taken steps to ensure that is the case, barring McFarland and Atkins from repeat business on the islands.

TMZ reports the Bahamas’ ministry of tourism has also introduced a “stricter vetting system” for any future festivals on the islands, and will consult with with promoters multiple times during the planning process to avoid a repeat of the debacle.

The Bahamas’ ministry of tourism has introduced a stricter vetting system for any future festivals on the islands

A source tells the gossip site it would have intervened in Fyre Festival sooner but “didn’t have the authority. It was a private event, so the government couldn’t get involved until guests’ safety became an issue.”

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reports McFarland and Atkins are now the target of a total of six lawsuits. A North Carolinan couple, Kenneth and Emily Reel, are seeking US$5 million for fraud, misrepresentation and deceptive trade practices, while contractor National Event Services has sued for $250,000 in damages on behalf of its employees on site.

NES staff found “uninhabitable” accommodation, “bloodstained mattresses and no air conditioning”, the complaint alleges, and NES had nowhere to send any patient who may have required emergency care overnight” as the medical centre was closed. The suit also accuses McFarland and Atkins of “falsely misrepresented critical facts” about the festival, including the “capitalisation necessary” to stage the event.

 

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Lawyers seek big wins over Fyre Festival woes

With Fyre Festival, the “adventure of a lifetime” that descended into what one attendee called “Rich Kids of Instagram meets Lord of Flies” – set to go down in history as a cautionary tale of how not to organise a music festival, lawyers for both festival and attendees are circling ahead of what is expected to be a protracted legal battle to establish culpability for the disaster.

As reported on Thursday, Fyre Festival, the brainchild of rapper Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland, descended into chaos on its first (and, as it transpired, only) day, with festivalgoers arriving on the Bahamian island of Grand Exuma to find a half-built festival site and no sign of the luxury accommodation and dining included with their US$1,500–$50,000 tickets.

McFarland and Ja Rule (real name Jeffrey Atkins) have since offered refunds to all guests – or free tickets to Fyre Festival 2018 (!) – and apologised to guests, staff and the government of the Bahamas for the “unacceptable guest experience” – although Atkins has since claimed the debacle was “NOT MY FAULT” (caps his).

The most concrete legal challenge against Atkins, McFarland and their Fyre Media company comes in the form of a class-action lawsuit by attendee Daniel Jung, who is seeking damages “in excess” of US$100 million of behalf of himself and a “class of similarly situated persons” for alleged fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

Filed by Los Angeles-based Geragos & Geragos, the complaint alleges that “defendants [Fyre] had been aware for months that their festival was dangerously under-equipped and posed a serious danger to anyone in attendance. Individuals employed by defendants have since acknowledged that no infrastructure for food service or accommodations was in place as recently as last month – the island was totally barren – and that the few contractors who had been retained by defendants were refusing to work because they had not been paid.

“This class action will make sure to hold Fyre, and all those who recklessly and blindly promoted the festival, accountable”

“At the same time, however, defendants were knowingly lying about the festival’s accommodations and safety and continued to promote the event and sell ticket packages.”

The law firm also takes issue with the festival’s claim that the festival was to take place on a private island once owned by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar – namely the fact that nothing about it is even remotely true. “The island isn’t private, as there is a Sandals resort down the road,” writes Geragos & Geragos principal Mark Geragos, “and Pablo Escobar never owned the island.”

According to Geragos, both Atkins and McFarland had contacted several performers and celebrity guests in advance of the festival warning them not to attend, “acknowledging the fact that the festival was outrageously under-equipped and potentially dangerous for anyone in attendance”, and yet “only ‘cancelled’ the event on the morning of the first day – after thousands of attendees had already arrived and were stranded, without food, water or shelter.

“This outrageous failure to prepare, coupled with defendants’ deliberate falsehoods in promoting the island ‘experience’, demonstrates that the Fyre Festival was nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning. Defendants intended to fleece attendees for hundreds of millions of dollars by inducing them to fly to a remote island without food, shelter or water – and without regard to what might happen to them after that.”

While the complaint acknowledges that Fyre has offered refunds, it concludes that luring festivalgoers to “a deserted island and [leaving them] to fend for themselves” is “tantamount to false imprisonment”, so damages must exceed the face value of their ticket packages by many orders of magnitude”.

The complaint is unusual in that it incorporates screenshots from social-media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, with photos of staff allegedly mishandling luggage, the ‘disaster relief’ tents that housed stranded guests,”wild animals” (cute swimming pigs) in the festival site and the now-famous sad cheese sandwich included as evidence.

“The infrastructure on Great Exuma is second to none. … We in the ministry are so disappointed that there have been false claims surrounding the island”

With said posting by Fyre Festival guests on social media – especially by prolific tweeters such as Seth Crossno (@WNFIV) and @FyreFraud – key to informing the world’s media about conditions on the island, Fyre Media’s lawyers reportedly hit back with a suit of their own, accusing those of live-tweeting the unfolding chaos on Grand Exuma of inciting “violence, rioting or civil unrest”.

According to TMZ, at least one festivalgoer – who claimed that the only accommodation on the island was disaster-relief tents on the verge of blowing over – received a cease-and-desist letter from Fyre warning that “if someone innocent does get hurt as a result [of your postings], Fyre Festival will hold you accountable and responsible.”

As predicted by IQ last week, the social media celebrities paid by Fyre to promote the festival – dubbed ‘Fyre Starters’ – have also found themselves in legal hot water. Geragos & Geragos’s Ben Meiselas told The Fashion Law the suit will “make sure to hold Fyre – and all those who recklessly and blindly promoted the festival – accountable” to ticket-holders (emphasis ours).

Although not explicitly named in the lawsuit, a leaked pitch document reveals Instagram ‘influencers’ such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Chanel Iman, and Hailey Baldwin were recruited as part of a “coordinated influencer marketing campaign” to promote the festival. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires all those endorsing products on social media to disclose if their posts are paid advertisements.

A second class-action suit, filed yesterday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, goes one step further, mentioning directly the “social media ‘influencers’ [who] made no attempt to disclose to consumers that they were being compensated for promoting the Fyre Festival”, reports THR.

“Social media ‘influencers’ made no attempt to disclose to consumers that they were being compensated for promoting the Fyre Festival”

Representing three attendees, Chelsea Chinery, Shannon McAuliffe and Desiree Flores, as well as the ‘class’ of people who bought tickets for or attended Fyre Festival, attorney John Girardi is seeking damages and an injunction to bar Atkins, McFarland and Fyre Media from “similar conduct”, throwing further into disarray plans to hold a second Fyre Festival in the US next year.

Short of suing festivalgoers for libel, the threat of any further legal action from Fyre Media’s side has likely passed (being that the festival is now over and all attendees evacuated, eliminating the threat of anyone being hurt).

There are, however, already signs of more lawsuits heading its way. The Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism is estimated to have lost millions from Fyre Festival’s cancellation, and in a statement contested the festival’s claims that a “city” had to be “built from the ground up”, saying the “infrastructure on Great Exuma is second to none. The island has potable water, water and sewerage, internet and cable television services, an electricity plant, a waste management system, a mini hospital, police officers, a local government and border patrol officers.”

The ministry’s director-general, Joy Jibrilu, says she felt compelled to defend the island “amid reports from the organisers that it lacked the necessary infrastructure to host the Fyre Festival”.

One enterprising Florida lawyer, meanwhile, has already registered the domain fyrefestivallawsuit.com. Injury attorney Philip DeBerard says he is “investigating legal action to help victims get proper compensation for their tickets, airfare and other damages”, imploring ticket-holders to come forward to “explore your options to hold Fyre Festival, Ja Rule and others accountable and get full, fair and just compensation for your damages.”

In a nutshell: don’t expect this story to go anywhere any time soon.

 

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‘Like a refugee camp’: Chaos at Fyre Festival

Fyre Festival, the much-anticipated new luxury boutique event by Ja Rule and Billy McFarland’s Fyre Media, has descended into chaos on its first day, with many ticket-holders stranded in Miami following the cancellation of their flights – and those who did make it to the Bahamas discovering conditions that have been compared to a refugee camp.

Angry festivalgoers – who had paid at bare minimum $1,500 to be there, and some up to $50,000 – have taken to social media and the r/fyrefestival subreddit to document the half-built tents, mountains of rubbish and débris and sub-standard food (“The dinner that Fyre Festival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese and salad with dressing”, wrote one Redditor) waiting for them in the Exumas, although the festival has yet to be officially called off.

The Fyre Festival Twitter account, which has since deleted its entire tweet history, has so far only issued two advisories to those witnessing first-hand what it describes as “the unexpected start to #FyreFestival”, telling those waiting for flights that they would have their tickets refunded and those on site that festival staff are “working to comfortably accommodate [their] needs”.

Blink-182 had already cancelled their headline slot at the festival, telling fans last night they were “not confident that we have what we need to give you the quality of performances we always give our fans”.

There has, at the time of writing, been no word from the other performers, who include Major Lazer, Pusha T, Disclosure, Skepta and Desiigner.

The festival had been heavily publicised on social media by several wealthy, high-profile  ‘influencers’, including models Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid and Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kendall Jenner. There has been speculation some of the backers may now face legal action for contravening new regulations on transparency in social-media endorsements.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO29bQXgvvx/

Matt Halfhill, the founder of trainer/sneaker news site Nice Kicks, posted photos on Twitter that appeared to show festivalgoers housed in disaster relief tents – a scene described by redditor Here_Comes_the_Kingz as looking like a “refugee camp”. Another said the festival resembles “Rich Kids of Instagram meets Lord of the Flies“.

https://twitter.com/MattHalfhill/status/857828241234460672

According to an anonymous 4chan user, the US embassy is reportedly now involved, flying “military rescue missions” to retrieve those stranded on the island.

One of Twitter’s most comprehensive documenters of the conditions on site has been @FyreFraud, who yesterday posted a video showing the state of what it jokingly called the “tropical private island owned by [Pablo] Escabar”, showing a barren landscape strewn with rubbish and unassembled accommodation.

Fyre Festival has promised to “provide regular updates and news via email to guest [sic] and our official social media channels as they come”.

 

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Fyre Festival reveals line-up (and $400k tickets)

Fyre Festival, a new event by Ja Rule’s Fyre Media booking agency, has unveiled the line-up it hopes can lure deep-pocketed music fans and celebrity spotters away from Coachella this spring.

The festival, which will take place on 28–30 April and 5–7 May – the weekend after Coachella wraps up – in the Exumas, Bahamas, will be headlined by Pusha T, Desiigner, Major Lazer, Blink-182 and a Disclosure DJ set, with Migos, Kaytranada, Skepta and Lil Yachty also on the bill.

Fyre, however, says the “unparellelled soundtrack” is “only a piece of the two-weekend experience. Attendees will take a departure from the familiar for the adventure of a lifetime, immersing themselves in art, first-class cuisine and new levels of luxury.”

“The Exumas will also offer the ultimate destination for boaters, divers, snorkellers and kayakers looking to explore its beautiful turquoise waters and idyllic beaches,” the announcement continues. “It’s been said that from space, astronauts deem the Exumas as having the clearest and nicest waters in the world. Guests will be invited to take advantage of the beauty of the islands, with onsite programming including sunrise yoga, meditation, massages, fitness bootcamps, art installations, and much more.

Fyre Festival is reportedly already in financial trouble, having missed a number of deadlines for payments to artists

“Local excursions will include yachting, jet skiing, snorkelling the deepest blue hole in the world, seeing the swimming pigs, exploring the caves and catamaran parties.”

All $1,500 GA passes are sold out, with remaining tickets starting at US$2,500 for those with their own yachts, increasing to $399,995 – $49,999 each – for ‘artists estate’ and ‘artists palace’ packages, which include flights, artists’ pass tickets, accommodation and “exclusive VIP experiences”.

While the Bahamas’ ministry of tourism expects Fyre to deliver the islands a “significant economic boost”, The Wall Street Journal suggests the festival, which has already shifted an estimated 12,000 tickets, is already in financial trouble, having missed a number of deadlines for payments to artists.

IQ Magazine explored the growth of luxury/VIP experiences at music festivals in issue 66.

 

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