FESTIVAL OF FRAUD

THREE YEARS AFTER THE FAILED FYRE MUSIC FESTIVAL, MANY ARE STILL PAYING THE PRICE FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT

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It seems like only yesterday that Fyre Festival CEO Billy McFarland fleeced tens of thousands of dollars out of starry-eyed festivalgoers and workers. They were lured with the promise of a luxury starstudded music festival in the Bahamas, co-founded by rapper Ja Rule in 2017. Instead, what the would-be revellers received was a nightmare, which Netflix later documented in Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.

Now, three years on, legal proceedings surrounding the failed party are still ongoing. The latest big-name celebrity to face the music was model Kendall Jenner who, on May 21, reportedly agreed to pay $137,000 in damages after she was sued in connection to a promotional Instagram post. The influencer had been paid $418,000 to promote the ticket sales – which sold out within 48 hours – via the since-deleted social media post. She had also failed to disclose the fact that she had received payment for the post, according to the lawsuit.