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Netflix’s Fyre Festival documentary debuts January 18th
Fyre Festival was billed as "the cultural experience of the decade," but as we all know, it actually turned out to be a massive disaster that was far from the luxurious, celebrity-filled event it was advertised to be. A lot has gone down since it all fell apart, but soon you'll be able to see where it all went wrong, thanks to a new Netflix documentary. Written and directed by Chris Smith (Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond), Fyre gives viewers a look into the festival as described the organizers themselves.
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.
Fyre Festival founder arrested, charged with wire fraud
There has been one arrest following April's disastrous Fyre Festival event, as the Southern District of New York US Attorney's office announced the arrest of Fyre Media founder William McFarland. He's charged with wire fraud for allegedly lying to investors about how much money the company was making from artist bookings. According to Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr., "McFarland truly put on a show, misrepresenting the financial status of his businesses in order to rake in lucrative investment deals."
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."
