Stupidity, fraud, and a story that you’ll never forget.
“Pure existential dread from start to finish” is how JOE’s Dave Hanratty described FYRE:Â The Greatest Party That Never Happened in his review about Netflix’s latest documentary and it’s perfectly apt.
Truth be told, we’ve had our eye on this feature for quite sometime now because for many people, it’s a timely critique of the influencer generation and their craving for Insta-fame.
Ultimately, this is very much a crime feature though because Billy McFarland, the founder and CEO of Fyre Media, was knowingly committing fraud by borrowing as much as $7 million in an effort to fund the festival with no way to pay back his investors.
Oh yeah, the festival was a complete shitshow too as a complete lack of organisation, infrastructure, food, accommodation, shelter, and transport caused havoc. What was billed as an exclusive festival for the richest of the rich turned into something like Lord of the Flies…with tequila.
Emily Ratajkowski, Kendall Jenner, and Bella Hadid sold people on an idea that had jet skis, parties, luxury villas, models, acts like Disclosure and Blink 182, and a weekend of debauchery on an island that was once owned by Pablo Escobar.
What they got was a lack of water, wet mattresses on the floor, looting, and the crappiest sandwich that you’ll ever see.
Ultimately, they all got scammed out of thousands of dollars as the world watched the whole event unfold.
Hell, even the staff that were working on FYRE – those on the tech side with the app and the festival itself – were scammed by McFarland. The anecdote about the “extreme” lengths that Andy was willing to go to in order to get those containers of water cleared from customs is startling.
That’s just one of the many stories that detailed just how much of a clusterf**k FYRE was.
Ultimately, McFarland and Ja Rule (his co-organiser) were sued for $100 million in a class action lawsuit in relation to the failed FYRE festival that left attendees stranded on the island without basic provision. McFarland was arrested by federal agents on June 30, 2017, and charged with wire fraud in relation to FYRE and FYRE Festival. He was released on $300,000 bail on July 1.
To compound matters, the documentary shows that McFarland continued to brazenly hustle and scheme people out of their money – even when he was out on bail.
In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in Federal Court in New York. He also admitted to using fake documents to attract investors to put more than $26 million into his company and he agreed to forfeit over $26 million.
FYRE has definitely got people talking.
Forget what you've heard about the disastrous Fyre Festival — you've only been told half the story.
🔥FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened 🔥is now streaming pic.twitter.com/7wh3O8eIZr
— Netflix (@netflix) January 18, 2019
I’m watching this Fyre Festival doc and it’s so fucking wild. Social media is a catalogue of fiction. People will endorse anything for money. Unfollow charlatan influencers and celebrities. Free yourselves.
— Beth McColl (@imbethmccoll) January 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/JRhodesPianist/status/1086368085429366784
Fyre Fest boss Billy McFarland asked a gay employee to blow a Bahamian official.
FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is now on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/AGr4FgiwSe
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 18, 2019
Everyone working on #FyreFestival: Billy, this isn't gonna work
Billy: shut up yes it will
Fyre Festival: *is a huge dumpster fire*
Billy: pic.twitter.com/fFqLSKi8yc— Mica Burton (@MicaBurton) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/thegeoff/status/1086398470238425089
Can we start a GoFundMe or something for this woman in the #Fyre documentary? No one talked about the Bahamians who were also scammed. #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/YsjjKTSPfa
— Moraalli, Ph.D. (@ALittleMorgs) January 18, 2019
Watching it now 😩😂 I can’t get enough fyre https://t.co/vSc3Nlloa7
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) January 19, 2019
I have now seen both Fyre Festival documentaries. I don't know which one is better, but I do know one thing: Watching spoiled rich people get scammed is really, really funny!
— Andy Herren (@AndyHerren) January 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/HanrattyDave/status/1086303647477219335
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