Fyre Fest founder McFarland sued by PYRT investor

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is being sued by an investor in his new venture, PYRT.

Fans paid between $1,500 and $50,000 to attend the notorious festival, held on the island of Grand Exuma in the Bahamas in 2017, 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.

McFarland, 31, was jailed for fraud in 2018 and fined $26 million for his role in the festival, but announced plans to launch a treasure hunt called PYRT upon his early release last year.

Billboard reports that Jonathan Taylor, who met McFarland while both were serving prison sentences in Ohio, has filed a civil lawsuit claiming McFarland and his business partner Michael Falb agreed a deal which offered Taylor a one-third equity in PYRT in exchange for a $740,000.

Taylor alleges that McFarland and Falb reneged on their agreement and refused to return the money

However, Taylor alleges that McFarland and Falb later reneged on the agreement and refused to return the money, leading to his demand for $740,000 damages, along with statutory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

The suit, filed in New York Supreme Court, states that McFarland will face legal action for civil fraud, conversion, civil conspiracy, breach of contract and unjust enrichment if he does not agree to repay the money to Taylor.

McFarland has not responded to requests for comment.

The disgraced entrepreneur announced plans to hold a sequel to Fyre Festival earlier this year, with the first batch of 100 tickets – priced at US$499 – selling out. A further six tiers of tickets, ranging between $799 and $7,999, are said to be “coming soon”.

The sequel’s location, date and line-up have not yet been confirmed, though the founder says it will take place in “the Caribbean” and that his unnamed partners are “targeting Fyre Festival 2 for the end of next year”.

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Playing with Fyre: First tickets for sequel sell out

The first 100 tickets for the sequel of the infamous Fyre Fest have sold out, despite a baptism of fire during its first edition in 2017.

Developed by Billy McFarland, the inaugural festival Fyre Fest was originally set to run over two weekends on a private beach in the Bahamas, with the promise of luxury accommodation, gourmet food and music.

However, the event spectacularly collapsed on its first day when t icket-holders arrived to find half-built tents, insufficient food and a dearth of performers.

McFarland was jailed in 2018 and fined US$26 million for his role in the debacle, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam.

The 31-year-old – who was released from prison last year– announced the return of the festival earlier this year and tickets went on sale this morning.

“FYRE is about people from the around the world coming together to pull off the impossible”

Despite a lack of details about the second edition, the first 100 tickets – which were priced at US$499 – have been snapped up. A further six tiers of tickets, ranging between $799 and $7,999, are “coming soon”.

“Since 2016 FYRE has been the most talked about festival in the world. We now saw this convert to one of the highest priced GA [general admission] pre-sales in the industry,” tweeted McFarland.

“FYRE is about people from the around the world coming together to pull off the impossible. This time we have incredible support. I’ll be doing what I love while working with the best logistical and infrastructure partners. In addition, all ticket sale revenue will be held in escrow until the final date is announced. We look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build FYRE and FYRE Festival II into the island adventure of a lifetime.”

In a video posted to his official TikTok account yesterday, McFarland said: “It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here, and it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement. I wrote out this 50-page plan of how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre, and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together and make the impossible happen, how I would find the best partners in the world to allow me to be me while executing Fyre’s vision to the highest level…”

“It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here… it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement”

He added: “In the meantime, we’ll be doing pop-ups and events across the world. Guys, this is your chance to get in. This is everything I’ve been working towards. Let’s fucking go.”

In March this year, McFarland laid out his plans to repay the $26 million (£20.9 million) he owes to investors for the botched debut.

“Here’s how I’m going to pay it back: I spend half my time filming TV shows. The other half, I focus on what I’m really, really good at,” he said on Twitter. “I’m the best at coming up with wild creative, getting talent together, and delivering the moment.”

McFarland previously shared he plans on making a Broadway musical.

He made the announcement on TikTok and in an interview with journalist Adam Glyn. “Instead of like traditional Broadway actors, it’s going to be current music artists, combined with the Broadway format of the play — making fun of me, but also I think sharing some of the good sides as well,” he said of the planned musical, which he has dubbed Fyre Fest 1.5.

Last year, following his release from prison, McFarland also launched a Bahamas treasure hunt venture, called ‘PYRT’. The event was expected to be the subject of a not-yet-released documentary titled After The Fyre.

The press has been somewhat sceptical about a second iteration of the notorious event, with Rolling Stone’s headline on the announcement reading: “Fyre Festival II tickets are on sale now if you’re interested in lighting money on fire”.

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Report lifts lid on ‘South Africa’s Fyre Festival’

A new report has shed fresh light on a failed music spectacular in South Africa that was abruptly cancelled days before it was due to take place, drawing comparisons with the disastrous Fyre Festival.

The 100,000-cap TribeOne Dinokeng Festival was scheduled to be staged in Dinokeng, near Cullinan, from 26-28 September 2014 – pre-dating the Fyre fiasco by almost three years – but was pulled by organisers after selling just a few hundred tickets.

The project, billed as “Africa’s biggest festival”, was to be hosted by the City of Tshwane and helmed by Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and its partner, pan-African music and entertainment production, content and events firm Rockstar 4000.

Hundreds of artists, including headliner Nicki Minaj, Wizkid, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kid Ink and J-Cole, were set to perform on three main stages at the festival.

But with tens of millions of rands of public money already spent, the event – led by Sony executive (now SME Africa MD) Sean Watson and Rockstar 4000 founder and CEO Jandre Louw – was axed, with promoters saying the host city had failed to meet infrastructure deadlines.

With three weeks to go until the event, organisers said only 4,000 tickets had been sold. It later emerged the actual total was 318

“Site preparation and related infrastructure development required to host the festival… fell behind schedule to a material extent, such that it was no longer realistically possible to stage and deliver the festival to the scale and quality that the organisers had always planned,” said a statement at the time.

However, nine years on, an exhaustive investigation by the Daily Maverick has uncovered more comprehensive details of the failed festival.

According to leaked documents, the mayoral committee pledged up to R20 million (€964,000) in public funds to build the festival’s infrastructure, with an additional R25m (€1.2m) to be paid to a “Sony Joint Venture” – thought to be Tribeone Festivals Pty Ltd, a company registered by Louw in 2012 – for the first year of a three-year, three-festival deal. But despite the city being unable to bear the costs alone, the agreement contained “no specific financial obligations” for the music executives.

Alarm bells rang among city officials in mid-June, around three months before the festival, when the City of Tshwane Group head of communications, marketing and events wrote to Louw expressing fears that their plans appeared to be in disarray – amid concerns over the progress of promised sponsorships and marketing – and ticket prices not even set.

Tickets did not go on sale until 12 August. With three weeks to go until the event, organisers said only 4,000 tickets had been sold (it later emerged the actual total was 318). Nine days after Louw had approached the city to underwrite a further R20m to help cover the financial shortfall, Louw and Watson cancelled the contract on 12 September and allegedly refused to negotiate a postponement or relocation.

Investigators criticised the event as “risky, ill-conceived and poorly executed”

The City of Tshwane went to the high court in a bid to compel the staging of the festival, but withdrew its application after learning that Watson and Louw had already cancelled the entire line-up.

“Emails from a number of booking agents… [indicated] that artists were booked, but that the deposit was still outstanding or that the artist has not received the balance of the amount due,” wrote investigators, who criticised the event as “risky, ill-conceived and poorly executed by inexperienced music executives”, in their forensic report.

Many of the suppliers, other companies and individuals left with unpaid invoices were reportedly told that Tribeone Festivals Pty Ltd had collapsed and could not fulfil its financial obligations.

Sony, Watson and Louw did not respond to DM‘s requests for interviews.

Legal action initiated by the City of Tshwane against Watson, Louw, Sony and Tribeone Festivals Pty Ltd is still pending.

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McFarland ‘testing the interest’ in Fyre sequel

Fyre Festival co-founder Billy McFarland has given his first interview on the potential return of the event.

The shamed entrepreneur appeared on CNN This Morning to address the notorious 2017 festival and his 2018 wire fraud conviction, as well as the reaction to his recent tweet claiming a Fyre sequel is in the works.

“Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited,” the 31-year-old tweeted last week.

Speaking to CNN anchor Don Lemon yesterday (18 April), McFarland said he was simply “testing the interest” in a follow-up, with no plans currently in place.

“I put out a tweet a week ago just to really test the waters and see is there still appetite for this idea after six years,” he said. “It’s already been six years. And the response has been insane.

“We have not scheduled a festival. There is no Fyre Festival II on the books at this point. We are literally just testing the interest in the concept. And I think the whole world saw how wild that went with one tweet and the response has been great. And it just leads me to try to find the best partners first.”

He continued: “It’s really about figuring out what I am good at, focusing on the marketing, focusing on bringing people together, and then just getting help so I don’t have to touch the areas where I should not be touching.”

“The overall goal is to pay everybody back while still doing something incredible”

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

McFarland was jailed in 2018 and fined US$26 million for his role in the debacle, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam.

“The overall goal is to pay everybody back while still doing something incredible,” he said. “I think the first time around, I just didn’t understand the magnitude of the vision and probably, more importantly, the magnitude of the logistics that were required to execute that. And I need to go about it completely differently this time around.

“Since getting out of jail I’ve just been looking at what opportunities I have to pay people back and I have been pitched on every iteration of a Fyre Festival from a local nightclub all the way up to a sovereign wealth fund.”

Fyre Festival was immortalised in two documentaries, Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, which delved into what went on behind the scenes.

“I’ve had years in prison to think about this and I have two options,” added McFarland. “I could crawl in a hole and admit that everything I did was wrong, which is totally fair, or I can at least try. And I might not succeed and I might fail but I’m going to fail or succeed honestly, and I believe that’s how I can find pride.”

It was revealed last November that McFarland is to star in new documentary After the Fyre, 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 a treasure hunt called PYRT, after serving four years of his six-year prison sentence.

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Billy McFarland: ‘Fyre Festival II is happening’

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland has claimed a sequel to the notorious event is in the works.

McFarland was jailed in 2018 and fined US$26 million for his role in the debacle, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam. However, the 31-year-old, who was released from prison last year, has taken to Twitter to announce the festival’s return.

“Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited,” he posts.

“People aren’t getting paid back if I sit on the couch and watch TV”

The disgraced entrepreneur previously suggested his future was away from music as he attempted to raise the US$26m he owes to the investors he defrauded. But he now says: “It’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working.”

Adding that he has “served his time”, he tweets: “People aren’t getting paid back if I sit on the couch and watch TV.”

Fyre Festival was immortalised in two documentaries, Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, which delved into what went on behind the scenes.

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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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Fyre Fest founder teases new festival

Fyre Fest founder and convicted felon Billy McFarland is reportedly planning a new festival after his release from prison.

The 30-year-old received a six-year jail term in 2018 and a US$26 million fine for his role in the notorious 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 from acts such as Blink-182, Major Lazer, Pusha T and Disclosure.

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.

Yesterday (25 October), he posted a since-deleted TikTok video where he admitted to the shortcomings of the 2017 event before claiming to have another project in the works to make up for Fyre Fest.

McFarland revealed that the next update about his next event will come in November, adding that “everybody is invited”. He later posted a YouTube video that implies that a treasure hunt is coming.

The disgraced entrepreneur also posted a phone number which, when texted, the sender received two messages that said “Welcome to the Treasure Hunt! Drop your contact info to come on board,” and “You going to join the ship? Once you add yourself you get the first clue”.

Sources with “direct knowledge” told TMZ that McFarland is apparently creating another music festival, among other things.

Last month, in an interview with New York Times, following his early release from prison, McFarland said he’d “like to do something tech-based”.

Despite being barred from becoming a company director, McFarland does not rule out starting his own firm.

“At the end of the day, I think I could probably create the most value by building some sort of tech product,” he continued. “Whether that’s within a company or by starting my own company, I’m open to both. I’ll probably decide in the next couple of weeks which path to go do.”

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Fyre Fest founder speaks out after prison release

Fyre Festival founder and convicted fraudster Billy McFarland is planning a comeback following his release from prison.

The 30-year-old received a six-year jail term in 2018 and a US$26 million fine for his role in the notorious festival, pleading guilty to defrauding investors and running a fraudulent ticketing scam.

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.

Fyre Festival was immortalised in two documentaries, Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, which delved into what went on behind the scenes.

Now, in an interview with New York Times following his early release from prison, McFarland suggests his future lies away from music as he attempts to raise the US$26m he owes to the investors he defrauded.

“I lied. I think I was scared. And the fear was letting down people who believed in me – showing them they weren’t right”

“I’d like to do something tech-based,” says the disgraced entrepreneur. “The good thing with tech is that people are so forward-thinking, and they’re more apt at taking risk. If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back. Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship.

“I lied,” he adds, discussing his crimes. “I think I was scared. And the fear was letting down people who believed in me – showing them they weren’t right.

“I deserved my sentence. I let a lot of people down.”

And despite being barred from becoming a company director, McFarland does not rule out starting his own firm.

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The decade in live: 2017

The start of a new year and, perhaps more significantly, a new decade is fast approaching – and while many may be thinking ahead to New Year’s Eve plans and well-meaning 2020 resolutions, IQ is casting its mind back to the most pivotal industry moments of the last ten years.

The memories of a turbulent 2016 were left far behind in 2017, as the concert business enjoyed a record-breaking twelve months, as the year’s gross revenue and number of tickets sold saw 2013 finally knocked off the top spot.

The success of the live business in 2017, however, was somewhat overshadowed by a number of devastating terror attacks, with the Manchester Arena bombing, the shootings at Route 91 Harvest and BPM Festival, the Reina nightclub shooting and other incidents targeting music fans.

In response to the tragedies, the live industry united and made a positive impact, in the form of the One Love Manchester and We are Manchester charity concerts and candlelit vigils and fundraising for victims of the Route 91 Harvest attack.

Elsewhere, the booking agency world continued to consolidate through 2017, with a number of acquisitions, mergers and partnerships while Live Nation welcomed several more promoters, festivals, ticketing agencies and venues to its fast-growing family.

2017 in numbers

The live music business reached new heights in 2017, with the top 100 tours worldwide generating a record US$5.65 billion, up almost 16% from the previous year.

The number of tickets sold throughout the year also saw a notable increase from the year before, climbing 10.4% to 66.8 million, at an average price of almost $4 more per ticket than in 2016, at $84.60.

Eleven tours surpassed the $100m mark in 2017, with U2 topping the year-end charts having generated $316m on their Joshua Tree tour. Guns N’ Roses narrowly missed out on $300m, grossing $292.5m on the Not in this Lifetime tour.

Coldplay came in next, as the band’s A Head Full of Dreams tour made $238m. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic tour was also successful, grossing just over $200m, whereas Metallica’s WorldWired tour generated $152.8m.

Depeche Mode, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, the Rolling Stones, Garth Brooks and Celine Dion were the other acts whose 2017 tour earnings exceeded $100m.

2017 in brief

January
A lone gunman attacks New Year’s revellers at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, resulting in the death of 39 people and injuries to a further 70. Two weeks later, four are killed and 12 injured during a shooting at the BPM Festival in the coastal resort of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

AM Only and The Windish Agency rebrand as Paradigm Talent Agency, signalling the next phase of their joint ventures, launched in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Global asset management firm Providence Equity Partners acquires a 70% stake in Sziget Festival and reveals plans to launch eight to ten branded festivals, with James Barton, former president of electronic music for Live Nation, leading the international expansion.

AEG Live finalises negotiations to acquire New York-based promoter/venue operator The Bowery Presents.

February
Ticketbis, the multinational resale operation acquired by eBay in May 2016, is rebranded as StubHub, bringing to an end the Ticketbis name across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Live Nation enters the Middle East’s biggest touring market with the acquisition of a majority stake in Bluestone Entertainment, one of Israel’s leading promoters.

March
Iron Maiden’s decision to use paperless tickets on the UK leg of The Book of Souls arena tour helps reduce the number of tickets appearing on secondary sites by more than 95%, according to promoter Live Nation.

Live Nation acquires a controlling stake in the UK’s Isle of Wight Festival.

The Australian leg of Adele’s Live 2017 tour makes concert history after playing to more than 600,000 people over eight stadium dates.

The decade in live: 2017

April
In the biggest primary deal so far for the world’s largest secondary ticketing site, StubHub is named the official ticket seller for Rock in Rio 2017.

Creative Artists Agency increases its investment in the Chinese market via a new alliance with private equity firm CMC Capital Partners.

May
Luxury Ja Rule-backed boutique event, Fyre Festival, descends into chaos on its first day, with visitors to the Bahamas site comparing conditions to a refugee camp.

22 people, including children, lose their lives after a suicide bombing at Manchester Arena, for which Islamic State terror claims responsibility. The attack targets people leaving the 21,000-cap. venue at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

June
Pandora Media announces the sale of Ticketfly to Eventbrite. Despite purchasing the company for $450m less than two years ago, it sells for a package worth $200m.

AEG invests in Immortals, one of the world’s leading esports teams, with professional players in the North American League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Super Smash Bros, Overwatch and Vainglory leagues. The team will now play their Los Angeles tournaments and matches at AEG’s LA Live entertainment district.

The organisers of ILMC announce the launch of the Event Safety and Security Summit (E3S), a one-day meeting focusing on security at live events.

The decade in live: 2017

July
Helsinki-based Fullsteam Agency acquires Rähinä Live, whose roster includes some of Finland’s biggest hip-hop and pop artists.

Oak View Group, which counts Irving Azoff and Tim Leiweke among its founders, completes its acquisition of Pollstar, adding the US-based concert business magazine to its portfolio of trade titles.

August
Madison Square Garden Company makes a significant move into the esports sector by acquiring a controlling stake in Counter Logic Gaming.

Paradigm Talent Agency acquires Chicago- and California-based agency Monterey International, including its 14 agents and 200 acts.

Live Nation launches in Brazil with former Time for Fun (T4F) chief entertainment officer Alexandre Faria Fernandes at the helm.

September
Three quarters of staff at Function(x), the online business founded by former SFX Entertainment CEO Robert Sillerman, are effectively laid off, with the company telling investors it lacks the funds to pay them.

A sovereign wealth fund controlled by the government of Saudi Arabia, says it is forming a new SR10 billion ($2.7bn) investment vehicle in a bid to kick-start the kingdom’s entertainment sector.

Music returns to Manchester Arena as a capacity crowd turn out for We are Manchester, a benefit concert that raises funds for a memorial to the victims of the 22nd of May bombing.

The decade in live: 2017

October
A gunman kills 58 people and injures a further 546 at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas. Local resident Stephen Paddock targeted the concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel.

WME-IMG rebrands as Endeavor, with company assets that include martial- arts promoter, UFC; ad agency, Droga5; Professional Bull Riders; the Miss Universe Organization; Frieze Art Fair; management companies, Dixon Talent and The Wall Group; and joint ventures such as Euroleague Basketball and esports championship ELEAGUE.

November
Ticketmaster confirms its long-rumoured expansion into Italy. The launch of Ticketmaster Italia, headquartered in Milan, follows the end of the exclusive long-term online partnership in Italy between Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, and CTS Eventim-owned TicketOne.

After 11 years in East London’s Victoria Park – now exclusive to AEG – Eat Your Own Ears’ Field Day Festival will head to Brockwell Park in South London. Live Nation’s Lovebox and Citadel are also rumoured to be moving to Brockwell Park.

Secondary ticketing websites will, from January 2018, be subject to stringent restrictions on their use of Google AdWords, as the search-engine giant cracks down on ticket resellers’ controversial use of its online advertising platform.

December
Leading self-service ticketer Eventbrite announces a series of new partnerships, rolling out integrations with events guide The List, festival package provider Festicket, word-of-mouth ticket sales platform Verve, and brand ambassador software Ticketrunner.

Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment since 2010, will remain in his role until at least 2022 after signing a new five-year contract worth up to $9m per annum. Also re-upping are leading execs Kathy Willard, Michael Rowles and Joe Berchtold.

The decade in live: 2017

Who we lost

Peter Rieger, founder of German promoter Peter Rieger Konzertagentur (PRK); Joseph Rascoff, business manager to the Stones, David Bowie, U2, Sting and more; ILMC’s long-time producer Alia Dann Swift; ShowSec International Ltd founder Mick Upton; Dave Chumbley, Primary Talent International director; Mary Cleary, former booker and tour manager; American singer-songwriter Tom Petty; pioneering concert promoter Shmuel Zemach, founder of Zemach Promotions; Australian country music promoter, agent and artist, Rob Potts; Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington; Reading festival founder Harold Pendelton; Washington, DC, promoter Jack Boyle; Live Nation Belgium booker Marianne Dekimpe; rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry.

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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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Fyre Fest founder McFarland sued by PYRT investor

Playing with Fyre: First tickets for sequel sell out

Report lifts lid on ‘South Africa’s Fyre Festival’

McFarland ‘testing the interest’ in Fyre sequel

Billy McFarland: ‘Fyre Festival II is happening’

Fyre Festival founder’s new project revealed

Fyre Fest founder teases new festival

Fyre Fest founder speaks out after prison release

The decade in live: 2017

Talent agencies embroiled in Fyre Fest lawsuit