Here’s What Went Down At The Fyre Festival
The more we learn about Fyre Festival, the more we all realize this thing was doomed from the beginning. From to a lack of funding to a lack of planning, all of the problems that went down during this disastrous event stem from simply not being prepared and, from the looks of it, not really caring how unprepared they were (we’re looking at you, Billy McFarland).
Both Netflix and Hulu released documentaries on the infamous Fyre Festival this past week and it’s got the entire world talking about how insane this whole failed experiment was.
Ja Rule, who founded Fyre Media with Billy McFarland, got fed up with all the slander on Sunday and ended up responding with some colorful tweets. The rapper pushes all the blame toward his former business partner and implies that neither documentary can be too trustworthy since they paid the people involved in the festival to make them.
I love how ppl watch a doc and think they have all the answers… 🤦🏾♂️
— Ja Rule (@jarule) January 20, 2019
I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make???
— Ja Rule (@jarule) January 20, 2019
@Hulu PAID BILLY!!! That money should have went to the ppl in the Bahamas… @netflix PAID fuck Jerry who also did all the promo for the festival… 🤔 the docs clearly have Billy at fault but let’s blame the rapper lmao ok…
— Ja Rule (@jarule) January 20, 2019
Ja is standing by his vision to create a one-of-a-kind festival and insists he would never scam anyone–but a scammed is exactly what all the Fyre Festival attendees got.
From the soaking wet mattresses to the cheese sandwiches, here’s the craziest things we learned about Fyre Festival from the recently released documentaries.
Everyone Told Billy McFarland This Thing Wouldn’t Work
The deadline for the employees of Fyre Media to finish everything was unrealistic from the start, but as the festival approached, several employees expressed serious doubt and desperation about the possible outcomes. According to those former employees, Billy didn’t take any of them seriously and kept on truckin’.
It’s crazy how they toasted to selling the pipe dream to losers/average Joes but #Fyre employees we’re buying the dream too 🤦🏾♀️
— April N. Watson🎙 (@MsBIGPoV) January 19, 2019
Billy Claims He Lost All The Keys To The Luxury Villas He Paid For
Fyre Festival had attendees paying tens of thousands of dollars for tickets that included stays in supposed luxury villas while on the island, but when they showed up, they were actually staying in FEMA tents.
According to Billy in the Hulu doc, he most definitely had villas that he purchased and everything was going smoothly…until he lost the box with all the keys. Makes sense.
There's a moment in the Hulu Fyre doc where Billy McFarland says they paid millions to rent hundreds of luxury villas on the island, but then kind of hangs his head and says they lost the box containing all the keys, and I've been thinking about it for 12 hours
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) January 15, 2019
Festival Attendees Were Forced To Add Money To Their Wristbands
Two weeks before the festival was set to take place, Fyre Media was reportedly in need of some serious cash. That’s when attendees were contacted and told to load up newly invented Fyre Festival wristbands with at least $3,000 to buy food and other items while onsite in the Bahamas.
Had to load up the money to spend at the event on the wrist band. And told them they’d need $300 a day https://t.co/5mdKg66wL0
— karl malone was just runnin (@screwyoumegn) January 20, 2019
Billy was doing ANYTHING he could for a quick buck to hold over investors, but not as much as his mentor Andy was about to do…
This Poor Man Almost Did Some TERRIBLE Things For Some Water Bottles
Probably the most shocking revelation that came from these documentaries is what Billy McFarland was asking his employees to do just to cover his tracks.
Andy King–who explained that by a week before the festival he was leaving most meetings to “burst into tears”–says McFarland asked him to “suck the d—” of a customs officer in order to get the trucks of Evian water bottles released to the site.
Luckily, that didn’t end up happening, but it’s a jaw-dropping story nonetheless.
when you get to the water bottle story in Netflix’s #Fyre doc. pic.twitter.com/RMChhM2SCR
— Mandi Bierly (@MandiBierly) January 19, 2019
Wait.
Billy McFarland had folks out here ready to give FELLATIO FOR WATER!?
Whew chiLAY! GEPPETTO! #fyre pic.twitter.com/NXgYoR7d43
— Jon Paul, Ed.D.😷🌈 (@DoctorJonPaul) January 18, 2019
A Lot Of Bahamians Never Got Paid For Their Work
Maryann Rolle, who runs the Exuma Point Bar and Grille, says she used $50,000 of her own money to pay other staff who helped at the event after they were left high and dry by the Fyre team.
This was just one instance where it became clear Billy McFarland didn’t have the funds he claimed to, but many were heartbroken to hear that Rolle had to take money out of her own pocket to pay for something that wasn’t her problem.
Luckily, there’s a GoFundMe for Maryann that’s already reached almost $90K.
This is the verified GoFundMe to support Maryann Rolle—the Bahamian restaurant owner who lost over $100k in the #FyreFest documentary featured on @Netflix. https://t.co/9qqFymTPuQ
— GoFundMe (@gofundme) January 19, 2019
This Guy Seriously Stole A LOT Of Money From A LOT Of People
Speaking of Billy not paying people, one of his staff members says that McFarland charged $150,000 dollars of Fyre Festival expenses onto his personal credit card and was never paid back.
Kroust, the 22-year-old staffer at Fyre Media who McFarland had tasked with talent booking, says his boss charged $150,000 dollars of festival-related expenses onto his personal American Express card and never paid him back.
Wait, that 23 year old Fyre festival assistant had an amex credit limit of $150k?
— 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕙 is sheltering in place 🦦 (@Ledashah) January 20, 2019
Billy Kept Scamming While He Was Out On Parole
After McFarland pleaded guilty to Fyre Festival-related charges, the SEC charged him with starting a “sham” company called NYC VIP Access, accusing him of operating it between late 2017 and the time of his guilty plea in March, while he was on pretrial release.
This man used contact information from Fyre Festival to try and sell fake tickets to other events around New York City. To the same people he scammed just a few months prior.
The judge thought they were being slick with "you can't be a CEO or company director for life" or whatever when Billy had Frank running things with NYC VIP Access as he sat in the background. Billy will be back. Watch. https://t.co/tHhoIq03xQ
— April (@ReignOfApril) January 20, 2019
watching the netflix doc and they also mentioned magnises and nyc vip access so i decided to search my old email and…… pic.twitter.com/ilZItbTOo7
— the edge queen (@nicolexschoen) January 19, 2019
The Cheese Sandwiches
C’mon, y’all. We all saw the famous cheese sandwich picture back in 2017 when Fyre first went down–but now it’s even more heart-wrenching and hilarious. This was the sure-fire sign that the people at this festival had absolutely NO IDEA how to throw an actual festival.
The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/I8d0UlSNbd
— Trevor DeHaas (@trev4president) April 28, 2017
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