Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski are among some of the major names to be hit with a lawsuit following the fallout from the now-infamous Fyre Festival debacle.
E! News reports that two years after rapper Ja Rule teamed up with Billy McFarland to create a festival that promised to “redefine the music festival experience,” the celebrities that had their hand in the matter are being sued for their actions. The outlet reports that Jenner, Ratajkowski and other social media influencers are being hit with the lawsuit to recover the thousands of dollars that were lost from them promoting the ultimately-doomed event. Jenner alone reportedly raked in $275,000 for her single post promoting the festival.
The lawsuits reportedly aren’t stopping at the influencers involved. The performers who were slated to come to the festival are also reportedly being expected to pay for their part in the matter. Migos, Blink-182, Lil Yachty, and Pusha T were all hit with complaints, which were reportedly filed in late August by New York’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court by the event’s trustee, Gregory Messer. The lawsuit claims that each performer received a hefty payday to perform at the festival, with Nue Agency being the highest receivers, taking $730,000 from McFarland for Pusha T, Tyga, and Desiigner to perform.
The Fyre Festival first made headlines in 2017. According to Vanity Fair , the festival was slated to be an event that rivaled its predecessors, Coachella and Bonnaroo. The festival had multiple promotional videos featuring models Bella Hadid, Elsa Husk, and Lais Ribeiro. Once attendees arrived to the Bahamas for the festival, however, they soon learned that many of the performers had dropped out of the event and the would-be concertgoers were stranded on the island, with limited food and shelter.
At the time of the festival, the backlash from those who attended the event didn’t resonate well on social media. Many users deemed the ordeal as a problem for “rich people.” However, the festival made headlines again with documentaries on both Netflix and Hulu, which discussed McFarland’s crimes.
McFarland was arrested in 2018 and pleaded guilty to wire fraud. In a statement, he reflected on his role in the matter and shared his experience with serving his current six-year prison sentence.
“I’ve always sought—and dreamed—to accomplish incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good, but I made many wrong and immature decisions along the way and I caused agony,” McFarland wrote.
“As a result, I’ve lived every day in prison with pain, and I will continue to do so until I am able to make up for some of this harm through work and actions that society finds respectable.”
