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Kardashian-Jenner sisters will close their subscription apps in 2019
Three years ago, the Kardashian-Jenner sisters launched subscription-based personal apps to keep fans abreast of what was going on in their lives, connect with them directly outside of their various social media platforms and maybe earn a buck or two in the process. But that direct link between socialite and fan is perhaps eroding a little, with the news that the Kardashians and Kylie Jenner are shutting down the apps.
Creator of doomed Fyre Festival gets six-year prison sentence
Billy McFarland, the founder of the disastrous Fyre Festival from 2017, has been sentenced to six years in a federal prison, The New York Times reports. The 26-year-old was found guilty of defrauding investors, an act he admitted to earlier this year. McFarland told prosecutors then that Fyre Media got $26 million from lenders by lying and forging documents, for what was then billed as "the cultural experience of the decade." As we know now, though, Fyre Festival ended up being the completely opposite of that, leaving attendees stranded at airports and eating sad cheese sandwiches instead of the five-star meals McFarland and his group promised them.
Hulu snags documentary series on the Fyre Festival fiasco
Last year's ill-fated Fyre Festival (almost) took place in the Bahamas; it also ended up with seven fraud and negligence class-action lawsuits. Co-founder Billy McFarland (above), who co-created the festival with rapper Ja Rule, was also arrested and charged with wire fraud. He ultimately pled guilty to misleading investors. Now Hulu has picked up a multi-part documentary series about the debacle, which is being jointly developed by Billboard, Mic and production company The Cinemart.
Instagram gives social media influencers the benefit of the doubt
The chaos surrounding the cancelled Fyre Festival is a perfect example of how social media influencers can misguide consumers. Instagram users were led to believe they would be rubbing shoulders with supermodels like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid in the Bahamas, after both of them heavily promoted the event on their accounts without ever disclosing they were paid to do so. People who spent thousands of dollars to attend eventually realized this was far from reality. Instead, the promised "cultural experience of the decade" left some stranded at airports. This led to a long list of legal problems organizers have had to deal with since the Fyre Festival was shut down on its opening day in May. Celebrities have been getting away with this type of stealth shilling on social networks for years now, but that may be coming to an end soon -- at least on Instagram.
Instagram influencers fanned the flames of Fyre Festival hype
When tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule (born Jeffrey Atkins) created Fyre Festival, a music event in the Bahamas for the selfie generation, they never imagined their idea would be on the receiving end of seven fraud and negligence class-action lawsuits (including one seeking $100 million) by the end. And that end came quicker than they'd imagined: After poor planning by organizers left people stranded at airports, without lodging and eating cheese sandwiches instead of the five-star meals promised, Bahamas officials decided to shut down the festival on opening day. "The event organizers assured us that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event," the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism said in a statement, "but clearly they did not have the capacity to execute an event of this scale."
Graffiti artist sloppily vandalizes massive billboard via drone
Drones, yeah, are now like, so cheap, you know, that you can just, like, use them to do vandalism that's also an artistic statement, right? That's what graffiti artist, hacker and, er, vandal Katsu does with a modified drone that's capable of carrying and using a can of spray paint. The anonymous figure's latest stunt was to attack the new Calvin Klein billboard in New York City, a six-story installation featuring Kendall Jenner. Unfortunately, Katsu's control of the drone wasn't strong enough to do any actual drawing, so the artist had to settle for haphazardly spraying some red lines. But, guys, you have to understand, okay, that it's a statement, right? A statement.
