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: 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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ0KNVU2fV0
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.
https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1086293310728093696
https://twitter.com/imteddybless/status/1086366544869945345
https://twitter.com/JRhodesPianist/status/1086368085429366784
https://twitter.com/JarettSays/status/1086296773558075392
https://twitter.com/MicaBurton/status/1086524322137571328
https://twitter.com/thegeoff/status/1086398470238425089
https://twitter.com/ALittleMorgs/status/1086340283003006977
https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/1086457163118067712
https://twitter.com/AndyHerren/status/1086347323091890176
https://twitter.com/HanrattyDave/status/1086303647477219335
