Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened

[ravencroft]

On 1/30/2019 at 2:36 PM, GaT said:

I think they're trying to find out exactly how much money the models were paid. My guess is that any records Billy kept are suspect.

Id bet anything he pocketed a lot of it.

[HunterHunted]

On 2/17/2019 at 2:48 PM, BuyMoreAndSave said:

In other news Ja Rule is still completely out of his goddamn mind: https://www.businessinsider.com/ja-rule-wants-new-event-like-fyre-fest-hasnt-seen-netflix-or-hulu-docs-2019-2

15 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

Oh ja rule.......I would die laughing if this fool was able to scheme idiots out of more money.  It says a lot about the absolute stupidity of people that he is literally making the exact same app under a different name.  He is hilarious.  Why isn't 50 cent on this?

Don't know if you've read or heard John Singleton's interview about Ja Rule and the Fast and Furious movies. Ja was in the first movie. They'd been planning on bringing him back for the sequel(s), but he was so arrogant and delusional that they slightly tweaked the part and gave it to Ludacris. Luda would go on to become a fixture in the series. He's also been a couple of films that would be nominated or win a Screen Actors Guild award. And I recall some talk about how Luda should have short-listed for the Emmys for his guest role on Law and Order:SVU. 

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/john-singleton-reveals-how-ja-rule-blew-his-chance-to-be-in-2-fast-2-furious/

So by being a thundering dumbass, Ja has made it much easier to book talent; they never bother calling him now. See! Much easier.

[BuyMoreAndSave]

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Don't know if you've read or heard John Singleton's interview about Ja Rule and the Fast and Furious movies. Ja was in the first movie. They'd been planning on bringing him back for the sequel(s), but he was so arrogant and delusional that they slightly tweaked the part and gave it to Ludacris. Luda would go on to become a fixture in the series. He's also been a couple of films that would be nominated or win a Screen Actors Guild award. And I recall some talk about how Luda should have short-listed for the Emmys for his guest role on Law and Order:SVU. 

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/john-singleton-reveals-how-ja-rule-blew-his-chance-to-be-in-2-fast-2-furious/

So by being a thundering dumbass, Ja has made it much easier to book talent; they never bother calling him now. See! Much easier.

Did not know that but it definitely makes sense. I guess he has always been arrogant and delusional and this isn't a new development after fading into obscurity.

Edited February 20, 2019 by BuyMoreAndSave

[RealReality10]

10 hours ago, ravencroft said:

Id bet anything he pocketed a lot of it.

I think some of this money is buried on Pablo Escobars island.  I sure hope they mention that in the advertisements for fyre festival two.  

I love the fact that a fyre festival two is even being floated.  It's just....the balls on these guys!

[merylinkid]

I would find this funny but really non-Douchebros got hurt last time.   If he pulls the same stunt, the same type of low level folks will get hurt again.   

[ravencroft]

8 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

I think some of this money is buried on Pablo Escobars island.  I sure hope they mention that in the advertisements for fyre festival two.  

I love the fact that a fyre festival two is even being floated.  It's just....the balls on these guys!

They are either counting on how quickly people forget things or just trying to cash in on the current attention. Hopefully enough people saw these docs that it will never get off the ground. Plus I think it was revealed in the Hulu doc that the Bahamas basically banned both Billy and Ja Rule from ever doing business on the Bahamas ever again (or something to that effect)

ETA: link

https://www.businessinsider.com/fyre-festival-organizers-banned-from-the-bahamas-2017-5

Edited February 21, 2019 by ravencroft
added link

[Oldernowiser]

So I watched this again last night because my husband hadn’t seen it and it occurred to me...this whole festival was supposed to be the marketing launch for their talent booking app...but instead they had that 22-year-old who had never booked talent before trying to book the music acts?

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

So I watched this again last night because my husband hadn’t seen it and it occurred to me...this whole festival was supposed to be the marketing launch for their talent booking app...but instead they had that 22-year-old who had never booked talent before trying to book the music acts?

Yeah, that made no sense! And all the acts were able to so easily drop out? Were there no contracts at all?

[Oldernowiser]

2 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Yeah, that made no sense! And all the acts were able to so easily drop out? Were there no contracts at all?

That guy who started the Fyrefraud site said he had worked with some of the agents of these groups and they told them they hadn’t gotten paid any of the front money...that negates any contract pretty effectively.

[merylinkid]

Contracts?   It is too laugh.    I think they contacted these bands and said "Hey come play at this huge festival" and the bands said sure, how much.    The douchebros said "millions, it'll be bigger than woodstock."   The bands said cool.    But nothing was signed and no guarantees given by anyone.     The douchebros then proclaimed far and wide these bands were booked when no such thing had happened.  Kinda like the private cabanas and the wristbands for wireless spending.

[BuyMoreAndSave]

On 2/20/2019 at 10:53 AM, RealReality10 said:

I think some of this money is buried on Pablo Escobars island.  I sure hope they mention that in the advertisements for fyre festival two.  

I love the fact that a fyre festival two is even being floated.  It's just....the balls on these guys!

The best thing about Fyre Festival it that it's the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you think it's finally over, more hilarious developments take place. For this reason I kind of want to see them attempt Fyre Festival Two. Also knowing Billy McFarland, if he did bury the money, he forgot that it rains in the tropics so he didn't bury it deep enough and it all got soaked and rotted.

[RealReality10]

2 hours ago, BuyMoreAndSave said:

The best thing about Fyre Festival it that it's the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you think it's finally over, more hilarious developments take place. For this reason I kind of want to see them attempt Fyre Festival Two. Also knowing Billy McFarland, if he did bury the money, he forgot that it rains in the tropics so he didn't bury it deep enough and it all got soaked and rotted.

I know right!  It really is the gift that keeps giving.  I remember Billy saying that everyone at fyre festival would get free tickets to fyre festival two.  Because you know that guy has the balls to offer up free tickets to a disaster event that never happened.  

I feel like Billy would probably hold the next fyre festival on that remote island where they shoot visitors with arrows.  Just shoot a snappy video and invite some people from the internet!

[BuyMoreAndSave]

23 minutes ago, RealReality10 said:

I know right!  It really is the gift that keeps giving.  I remember Billy saying that everyone at fyre festival would get free tickets to fyre festival two.  Because you know that guy has the balls to offer up free tickets to a disaster event that never happened.  

I feel like Billy would probably hold the next fyre festival on that remote island where they shoot visitors with arrows.  Just shoot a snappy video and invite some people from the internet!

OMG yes, North Sentinel Island! "An adventure like nothing you have experienced before!"

[RealReality10]

3 minutes ago, BuyMoreAndSave said:

OMG yes, North Sentinel Island! "An adventure like nothing you have experienced before!"

Blink 182, Kanye West and Kylie Jenner will all be there!

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

Blink 182, Kanye West and Kylie Jenner will all be there!

Honestly, anyone interested in seeing any of those fools deserves to be shot with arrows.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

Blink 182, Kanye West and Kylie Jenner will all be there!

Only one of these acts* fell for agreeing to attend the first one so I doubt it.

*i don’t know what Kylie does.

[RealReality10]

22 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Only one of these acts* fell for agreeing to attend the first one so I doubt it.

*i don’t know what Kylie does.

Awww @biakbiak you'll never be able to con people with that attitude.  If you want to compete with the real criminal masterminds like Billy and jarule the secret is in just SAYING that these people will show up.

I mean, yeah you have to get a few bands like blink 182 and major Lazer to promote it on their social media and then you don't pay them, which you know will result in them not showing up.  Then after that, you can basically just say that any other act (Kanye) is going to show up.

I feel like fyre festival 1.0 was just testing the waters in how far they could push these shenanigans.  

This time they should be much bolder and push the envelope much further.  Why stop at Kanye?  Next time promise Beyonce, jay-z, childish gambio, the cast of Hamilton, Michelle and Barak Obama....the sky's the limit!

[Oldernowiser]

23 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Only one of these acts* fell for agreeing to attend the first one so I doubt it.

*i don’t know what Kylie does.

Hee. Neither did I. Apparently she’s some form of Kardashian and is a model. So essentially famous for being famous. 

Which is pretty much what an “influencer” is, apparently.

The internet has a lot to answer for...

[Artsda]

I just watched this today, it was really interesting. A lot of insider interviews and explaining of the story.

[teddysmom]

Are there that many people who need an app to book talent for their big party? Can't they just call the booking agency? 

Enough with the apps! 

I have made  a vow to not use words like influencer, 

On 2/21/2019 at 7:04 PM, merylinkid said:

millions, it'll be bigger than woodstock.

Yeah they weren't even born when Woodstock happened. (I was). The music was fantastic but it was a fucking nightmare. Traffic backed up for miles, no water, no food, (Army ended up airlifting supplies in), poured down rain for days. Yeah it was great. 
 

I did attend the Midwest version of Woodstock at Bull Island on the Wabash River between Indiana &  Illinois. And it was a clusterfuck too.  Great music, but I was never so glad to get home in my life. 

[biakbiak]

9 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

e there that many people who need an app to book talent for their big party? Can't they just call the booking agency? 

They were lowering the middle man price. More money to the artist and cheaper for the person. That said the price point would have to be fairly high because the market is limited.

[ravencroft]

1 hour ago, teddysmom said:

Are there that many people who need an app to book talent for their big party? Can't they just call the booking agency? 

Enough with the apps! 

I have made  a vow to not use words like influencer, 

Yeah they weren't even born when Woodstock happened. (I was). The music was fantastic but it was a fucking nightmare. Traffic backed up for miles, no water, no food, (Army ended up airlifting supplies in), poured down rain for days. Yeah it was great. 
 

I did attend the Midwest version of Woodstock at Bull Island on the Wabash River between Indiana &  Illinois. And it was a clusterfuck too.  Great music, but I was never so glad to get home in my life. 

Makes me wonder how Woodstock, if social media had been around then, would it be considered nearly as iconic if people would have been able to see it unfold. Probably not. 

On 2/21/2019 at 12:06 PM, Oldernowiser said:

So I watched this again last night because my husband hadn’t seen it and it occurred to me...this whole festival was supposed to be the marketing launch for their talent booking app...but instead they had that 22-year-old who had never booked talent before trying to book the music acts?

That was one of the first signs to me that this whole thing was doomed from the start: the fact that they handed very important duties to people who had never done them before (granted one has to learn somehow) and the fact that they hired all these consultants who they ended up not listening to and in some cases firing those who told them no. If they were serious about making this happened, they would have listened to them. But no, Billy and Grant and Ja all thought they knew better than the experts they hired and thought they could BS their way through it all.  Add to the fact that Billy supposedly tried to get the Bahamas to reschedule the Regatta for another weekend just further shows how delusional they were.

I cant help but think that Billy didnt hear the word "No" very much growing up. I could be mistaken.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, ravencroft said:

Makes me wonder how Woodstock, if social media had been around then, would it be considered nearly as iconic if people would have been able to see it unfold. Probably not. 

I think it would have been and probably more insane because more people would have shown up once they realized they could get in without tickets. The huge differences between the two is Woodstock was never sold as some exclusive luxury event and most importantly the level of talent of the performers far exceeded what was being sold here.

Edited March 5, 2019 by biakbiak

[merylinkid]

Netflix and Jerry Media are being sued by one of the "influencers."   Apparently, and stop me if you have heard this before, they used her video of her experience on the Island without her permission.   

The fallout of this fustercluck is endless.

[RealReality10]

21 hours ago, biakbiak said:

They were lowering the middle man price. More money to the artist and cheaper for the person. That said the price point would have to be fairly high because the market is limited.

I can't help but think that this app was primarily for second rate entertainers and YouTube personalities.  I mean, am agent normally negotiates your compensation, which should be a negotiation, and I imagine big name acts don't want to be saddled with having to do that themselves.  Also, there is a level of cache to having a booking agent, and with the money Bruno Mars and Beyonce are making, like 10-15% isn't going to be worth it given how many millions the 85% is.

But, like funky dineva, or other YouTube personalities?  They probably are perfectly happy and willing to negotiate their own contracts and they would really want that additional 15%.  And they may not all even have access to an agent.

20 hours ago, ravencroft said:

I cant help but think that Billy didnt hear the word "No" very much growing up. I could be mistaken.

LOL, you should watch the Hulu documentary where his mother basically calls him a misunderstood genius or something ridiculous.  Or maybe just genius.  Why would you ever stifle such a precious being with the word "no"

20 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I think it would have been and probably more insane because more people would have shown up once they realized they could get in without tickets. The huge differences between the two is Woodstock was never sold as some exclusive luxury event and most importantly the level of talent of the performers far exceeded what was being sold here.

The beauty of Woodstock IMO is that it seemed to organically grow into this cultural phenomenon.  I don't know if we are past those days when things happened naturally.

6 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Netflix and Jerry Media are being sued by one of the "influencers."   Apparently, and stop me if you have heard this before, they used her video of her experience on the Island without her permission.   

The fallout of this fustercluck is endless.

It really is the clusterfuck that keeps giving.  I can only hope that fyre festival II that ja rule is planning is as spectacular.

22 hours ago, biakbiak said:

They were lowering the middle man price. More money to the artist and cheaper for the person. That said the price point would have to be fairly high because the market is limited.

I can't help but think that this app was primarily for second rate entertainers and YouTube personalities.  I mean, am agent normally negotiates your compensation, which should be a negotiation, and I imagine big name acts don't want to be saddled with having to do that themselves.  Also, there is a level of cache to having a booking agent, and with the money Bruno Mars and Beyonce are making, like 10-15% isn't going to be worth it given how many millions the 85% is.

But, like funky dineva, or other YouTube personalities?  They probably are perfectly happy and willing to negotiate their own contracts and they would really want that additional 15%.  And they may not all even have access to an agent.

21 hours ago, ravencroft said:

I cant help but think that Billy didnt hear the word "No" very much growing up. I could be mistaken.

LOL, you should watch the Hulu documentary where his mother basically calls him a misunderstood genius or something ridiculous.  Or maybe just genius.  Why would you ever stifle such a precious being with the word "no"

20 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I think it would have been and probably more insane because more people would have shown up once they realized they could get in without tickets. The huge differences between the two is Woodstock was never sold as some exclusive luxury event and most importantly the level of talent of the performers far exceeded what was being sold here.

The beauty of Woodstock IMO is that it seemed to organically grow into this cultural phenomenon.  I don't know if we are past those days when things happened naturally.

6 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Netflix and Jerry Media are being sued by one of the "influencers."   Apparently, and stop me if you have heard this before, they used her video of her experience on the Island without her permission.   

The fallout of this fustercluck is endless.

It really is the clusterfuck that keeps giving.  I can only hope that fyre festival II that ja rule is planning is as spectacular.

[biakbiak]

6 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

can only hope that fyre festival II that ja rule is planning is as spectacular.

This is never happening.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:43 PM, teddysmom said:

Yeah they weren't even born when Woodstock happened. (I was). The music was fantastic but it was a fucking nightmare. Traffic backed up for miles, no water, no food, (Army ended up airlifting supplies in), poured down rain for days. Yeah it was great.

And almost none of the performers were paid. The only big act that was paid in full was The Who; they'd helicoptered in and immediately went to see the Woodstock promoters for their payment. At that point, the Woodstock promoters had declared the festival free and were refusing to pay anyone. The Who's manager told the Woodstock honchos: "If you don't pay us, we'll go on stage, tell everyone we're not playing because you won't pay us, then we'll take our helicopter out of here and let you deal with it." The promoters, who had nowhere near enough police and security onsite to deal with 500,000 pissed-off fans, paid up.

On 1/24/2019 at 10:09 PM, Misslindsey said:

Did any of the musical acts actually show up?

No. Once Blink-182 pulled out, the other acts never even flew in. Some local musicians took the stage during the evening, but that was it. And with all due respect to Blink-182 and their fans, having them headline a festival geared towards young twentysomethings in 2017 (when their big hits were almost two decades old) was a little ridiculous: It would be the equivalent of putting on a musical festival geared towards twentysomethings in the mid-90s and having The Bee Gees or Peter Frampton headline it: Your targeted demographic is going to view your headline act as "Mom and Dad Music."

[Enero]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:13 PM, biakbiak said:

Oh I definitely think he knew he just didn’t care, he was in on a lot of the meetings and saw emails and to quote him during the meeting where he said they had to spin the bad press “"That's not fraud. that's not fraud. That is, uh, I would call that false advertising."

Exactly! In one of the recorded meetings, I believe it was in the Hulu documentary. JaRule, Billy and team were debriefing after the fiasco that was the event and JaRule foolishly thought they could get some good publicity out of the dragging they were getting over this and he pretty much said oh we “f*cked up” but it’s not big deal. What?! You stole people’s money. I think the only reason why he isn’t in jail is because he wasn’t handling any of the money. I think he was named in a lawsuit though. 

On 2/14/2019 at 7:27 AM, merylinkid said:

Billy wanted Escobar's Island.   

The current owner didn’t even want his property associated with Escobar and had warned Billy not to use that fact in his advertisements for the event. Billy ignored the owner’s request and that’s how they lost the original location. Not that it would’ve worked anyway. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Enero

[RealReality10]

On 3/22/2019 at 8:34 PM, Enero said:

Exactly! In one of the recorded meetings, I believe it was in the Hulu documentary. JaRule, Billy and team were debriefing after the fiasco that was the event and JaRule foolishly thought they could get some good publicity out of the dragging they were getting over this and he pretty much said oh we “f*cked up” but it’s not big deal. What?! You stole people’s money. I think the only reason why he isn’t in jail is because he wasn’t handling any of the money. I think he was named in a lawsuit though. 

The current owner didn’t even want his property associated with Escobar and had warned Billy not to use that fact in his advertisements for the event. Billy ignored the owner’s request and that’s how they lost the original location. Not that it would’ve worked anyway. 

It might have even been an even more unbelievable clusterfuck on Escobars old island, because great exhuma seems to have at least some infrastructure and is developed enough to have a sandals resort and host the grand regatta every year. 

I doubt escobars old island had THAT much infrastructure because he wouldn't have needed it.  Unless they developed it after it was purchased from the estate? 

[vibeology]

8 hours ago, RealReality10 said:

It might have even been an even more unbelievable clusterfuck on Escobars old island, because great exhuma seems to have at least some infrastructure and is developed enough to have a sandals resort and host the grand regatta every year. 

I doubt escobars old island had THAT much infrastructure because he wouldn't have needed it.  Unless they developed it after it was purchased from the estate?  

I would have been a different sort of disaster on the private island. The biggest issue would have been getting all the guests there. Frankly, I think they would have failed to properly plan for it and basically no one would actually be on the island. It looked to me like it has a smaller runway so no chartering one jet and using it to get everyone on the island, the runway wouldn't be long enough. You'd need constant flights of small planes and these dumb dumbs never would have had the money or the foresight to plan for that. The other option was the cruise ship one. Get everyone there on a boat and then go from the boat to the island. You'd have to charter the ship (so expensive) and again, there's no cruise ship port so you'd have to be tendering guests back and forth constantly. The upside to that is at least the cruise ship would have things like lights, food and bathrooms.

The most likely outcome would have been nearly all the guests stuck in airports without a way to get from Miami, Nassau and Exuma International to the private island. You'd still get kids locked in the airport and people who never make it to the site but you'd avoid the peed on mattresses and the sad cheese sandwich. The problem is for the people who would make it to the island, there would be even less support and options to get back home. They'd be at Billy's mercy for a trip home since they can't access an airport or cars or boats.

[RealReality10]

2 hours ago, vibeology said:

I would have been a different sort of disaster on the private island. The biggest issue would have been getting all the guests there. Frankly, I think they would have failed to properly plan for it and basically no one would actually be on the island. It looked to me like it has a smaller runway so no chartering one jet and using it to get everyone on the island, the runway wouldn't be long enough. You'd need constant flights of small planes and these dumb dumbs never would have had the money or the foresight to plan for that. The other option was the cruise ship one. Get everyone there on a boat and then go from the boat to the island. You'd have to charter the ship (so expensive) and again, there's no cruise ship port so you'd have to be tendering guests back and forth constantly. The upside to that is at least the cruise ship would have things like lights, food and bathrooms.

The most likely outcome would have been nearly all the guests stuck in airports without a way to get from Miami, Nassau and Exuma International to the private island. You'd still get kids locked in the airport and people who never make it to the site but you'd avoid the peed on mattresses and the sad cheese sandwich. The problem is for the people who would make it to the island, there would be even less support and options to get back home. They'd be at Billy's mercy for a trip home since they can't access an airport or cars or boats.

No, I have to say I prefer the shitshow we had to the hypothetical shitshow then.  Because the modern day Lord of the flies/ PT Barnum feel of this disaster was pretty priceless and could not have been accomplished if everyone was just chilling out in a relatively comfortable airport with vending machines and gift shops.

[RealReality10]

https://eugeneweekly.com/2019/03/28/fyre-2-0-coming-to-eugene/

🙂

[jumper sage]

I've seen both Fyre Festival documentaries and they both have merit as they focus on different people.  I felt bad for the caterer.  She paid her workers with her savings and left herself broke.  I felt for the construction crews too.  I did not feel for the youngsters who laid out money and then more money and never researched the endeavor.

My favorite part of one of the docs is when Billy started up another scam scheme WHILE ON BAIL.

[RealReality]

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2019/05/billy-mcfarland-is-writing-a-memoir-about-fyre-festival.html

Found this mind boggling on so many levels.  The fact that Billy McFarland has somehow painted himself as less than fully culpable for the fyre festival disaster shouldnt surprise me, but it still does.

Like he is "struggling to come to terms" with how he scammed the Bahamian people, and his insistence that vendors were "paid enough"

I just don't even understand.  That he thinks that anyone would believe that he would use even a cent from that book to help anyone he scammed is ludicrous.

Also, while I find this story fascinating I would never buy this book. I hate to use such finite terms, but I cannot stomach the thought of directly giving that guy money.  It'll be interesting to see how rapidly it's debunked.

[Oldernowiser]

Billy will never stop hustling...it’s encoded in his DNA. He’ll lurch from boom to bust forever, living large the whole way off other people’s money.

Now who does that remind me of...

It did amuse me that he is being represented by “Dog Shit Media,” which is a terrible insult to dogs, really...

[merylinkid]

43 minutes ago, Oldernowiser said:

It did amuse me that he is being represented by “Dog Shit Media,” which is a terrible insult to dogs, really.

What is it with the vulgar names?    Fyre Festival (which was 2 years ago last week) had "Fuck Jerry" as one company working with it.   Now "Dog Shit Media."    Have some PROFESSIONALISM people.   

As for McFarland -- write the book.    Either 1) it will tank or 2) all the people to whom he owes money will sue him to a fare thee well and all his book sales will go towards paying off judgments.   

[Oldernowiser]

I watched both documentaries again on the treadmill last week. I find them so fascinating in terms of groupthink and “positivity” gone nuclear.

 I remain buffaloed that JaRule came out of this unscathed, unless he really just was the stoned useful idiot he appeared to be and there was zero paper trail back to him. Did he even get paid at any point or was it all in weed?

I heard a podcast with Calvin Wells the other day and he brought up something hiding in plain sight: who was Billy working with on the street drugs for this massive party? It’s likely he was dealing with some interesting and scary individuals. It’s amazing he’s not dead.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Oldernowiser

[RealReality]

3 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

Billy will never stop hustling...it’s encoded in his DNA. He’ll lurch from boom to bust forever, living large the whole way off other people’s money.

I agree, the real problem is me because I'm still surprised at these things.  

Like both documentaries got it all wrong because they failed to paint Billy McFarland as the misunderstood genius victim.  I just can't with him.

2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

As for McFarland -- write the book.    Either 1) it will tank or 2) all the people to whom he owes money will sue him to a fare thee well and all his book sales will go towards paying off judgments.   

I feel like Billy will find a way to hide any proceeds.  And I'm sure it will involve his idiot girlfriend.  Offshore accounts, trust funds in the girlfriend's name...whatever else shady people do to appear judgement proof.  Maybe put the funds in the girlfriend's name, and then declare bankruptcy and get the judgments forgiven.  Don't know if this is a loophole that can be exploited but it's something he would do.  

Billy McFarland will do anything and everything humanly possible to keep from paying anyone anything.  Apparently since he is "struggling" with how the Bahamian people were even victims of his fraud.  

2 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

I watched both documentaries again on the treadmill last week. I find them so fascinating in terms of groupthink and “positivity” gone nuclear.

 I remain buffaloed that JaRule came out of this unscathed, unless he really just was the stoned useful idiot he appeared to be and there was zero paper trail back to him. Did he even get paid at any point or was it all in weed?

I heard a podcast with Calvin Wells the other day and he brought up something hiding in plain sight: who was Billy working with on the street drugs for this massive party? It’s likely he was dealing with some interesting and scary individuals. It’s amazing he’s not dead.

I'll bet the drug dealers are the "vendors" who got paid.

Had the defrauded concert-goers been a little more likable I think jarule would be in a lot more trouble.  But I've been disappointed in 50 cent for not trolling him more.

He is getting sued right?

[Dr.OO7]

On 4/5/2019 at 1:06 PM, jumper sage said:

My favorite part of one of the docs is when Billy started up another scam scheme WHILE ON BAIL

That's mind-blowing.

Whereas the Frye Festival and his "Magnises" ventures could be seen as something he was legitimately trying to do before it all went to hell, selling tickets to things that there aren't tickets for is a flat-out con.

[RealReality]

23 minutes ago, Camille said:

That's mind-blowing.

Whereas the Frye Festival and his "Magnises" ventures could be seen as something he was legitimately trying to do before it all went to hell, selling tickets to things that there aren't tickets for is a flat-out con.

It's not even a genius level con. 

It's basically a riff on the Nigerian prince scam, except you're going to get Beyonce tickets instead of $9 million dollars deposited into your account.

[Dr.OO7]

I've never understood that about con artists. Why do they keep going? Don't they know they're going to get caught eventually?

FYI, the fake heiress Anna Delvey may have ripped off McFarland--she crashed at one of his places for months without giving him a dime for rent.

That's a nice bit of karma.

[Dr.OO7]

On 5/3/2019 at 9:33 PM, RealReality said:

It's not even a genius level con. 

It's basically a riff on the Nigerian prince scam, except you're going to get Beyonce tickets instead of $9 million dollars deposited into your account.

It really is. I read something that claimed that this guy basically scammed HIMSELF by buying tickets for his Magnises venture and then selling them for less than what he bought them for.

I read the article on the book he's planning to write, and of course, he's lying about that too--claiming publishers and agents are practically fighting over who gets to publish it when none of them have ever heard of him.

It's almost sad. Not that I feel sorry for him, but he genuinely can't seem to help himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to pull another stunt the minute he's released.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Camille

[RealReality]

11 minutes ago, Camille said:

It really is. I read something that claimed that this guy basically scammed HIMSELF by buying tickets for his Magnises venture and then selling them for less than what he bought them for.

I read the article on the book he's planning to write, and of course, he's lying about that too--claiming publishers and agents are practically fighting over who gets to publish it when none of them have ever heard of him.

It's almost sad. Not that I feel sorry for him, but he genuinely can't seem to help himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to pull another stunt the minute he's released.

LOL, I wouldn't be surprised to learn he has some scam going in prison.  He really can't seem to stop.  

[Dr.OO7]

I know I'm the only person who feels sorry for the attendees, but I watched the trailer and heard one moron declare that he sold everything he owned  to buy his ticket.

Not that guy. That would have been a colossally stupid thing to do even if this had been legit. A great weekend is not worth being homeless after you get back. 

[BuyMoreAndSave]

On 2/19/2019 at 12:12 PM, RealReality10 said:

Oh ja rule.......I would die laughing if this fool was able to scheme idiots out of more money.

Guess who's back...back again....

https://adage.com/article/digital/fyre-festivals-ja-rule-wants-do-your-taxes/2227201

 

On 5/3/2019 at 9:11 PM, Camille said:

I've never understood that about con artists. Why do they keep going? Don't they know they're going to get caught eventually?

FYI, the fake heiress Anna Delvey may have ripped off McFarland--she crashed at one of his places for months without giving him a dime for rent.

That's a nice bit of karma.

From what I can tell they don't have the same long-term planning abilities as normal people and also probably have a less reactive amygdala which not only leads to them not caring about screwing people over, but also leads to them feeling much less fear than normal people. Also they are charming and are used to being able to bullshit their way out of most situations. I don't think that they really believe they're going to get caught until it actually happens, whereas anyone with common sense could see it coming from miles away. Also, some con artists -- not most, but some -- really do get away with jumping from one con to the next over years and years...let's not get controversial and name names here....

Did not know that about Anna Delvey but that is hilarious! Didn't she have some "friendship" with Martin Shkreli too?

[Dr.OO7]

6 hours ago, BuyMoreAndSave said:

Did not know that about Anna Delvey but that is hilarious! Didn't she have some "friendship" with Martin Shkreli too?

I don't know, but that would serve the both of them right.

I can't decide who's worse. McFarland hurt a LOT of people, but the pathetic thing is, he may have legitimately wanted to put this venture together. Delvey just thought she was completely entitled to live the life of a socialite and didn't care who she hurt in the process.

Here's the most mind-boggling thing about this whole mess--there were NO musical acts. Everyone either pulled out or was never booked in the first place. How the hell did this idiot think he was going to host a music festival with no performers? People could have overlooked the crappy accommodations and food, but not that. I watched the "American Greed" episode about this and as I wrote earlier, I cannot comprehend what he was thinking, or if he ever thought clearly at all.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Camille

[BuyMoreAndSave]

3 hours ago, Camille said:

I don't know, but that would serve the both of them right.

I can't decide who's worse. McFarland hurt a LOT of people, but the pathetic thing is, he may have legitimately wanted to put this venture together. Delvey just thought she was completely entitled to live the life of a socialite and didn't care who she hurt in the process.

Here's the most mind-boggling thing about this whole mess--there were NO musical acts. Everyone either pulled out or was never booked in the first place. How the hell did this idiot think he was going to host a music festival with no performers? People could have overlooked the crappy accommodations and food, but not that. I watched the "American Greed" episode about this and as I wrote earlier, I cannot comprehend what he was thinking, or if he ever thought clearly at all.

It actually says on Wikipedia that Blink-182 pulled out after people had already gotten there (really, it took them that long to figure out it was a disaster?)

"The first flights from Miami International Airport to Exuma International Airport, operated by Swift Air and Xtra Airways, landed at 6:20 a.m. That afternoon, Blink-182 announced that it was withdrawing from the festival, stating in a Twitter post that: "We're not confident that we would have what we need to give you the quality of performances we always give our fans.""

I think McFarland did on some level think he was going to pull it off. I think part of it was probably an "Emperor's New Clothes" situation, and part was an extreme power of positive thinking gone wrong situation, with just straight up delusional levels of overconfidence and narcissism. I think a normal person would not be able to understand his mindset. But basically it's like he formed sort of a cult where he brainwashed not only other people, but his own damn self.

I think Delvey definitely has to be worse though. Both of them scammed investors and business contacts, but on the other hand you could say the investors and business contacts failed to do due diligence before getting involved with them. McFarland also scammed festival attendees but at least they just had one or two slightly uncomfortable days and then were left with a good story (and the people who spent their life savings on tickets were just idiots). Of course he did endanger lives by not giving people access to water or medical attention, so there's also that.

However, Delvey scammed unsuspecting people who she had supposedly befriended, even depleting them of their life savings in some cases. That's like a real backstabbing, sociopathic thing to do and could ruin someone's trust in people forever. Like how can someone enjoy a luxury vacation knowing that in order to pay for it, they're about to trash the finances of an unsuspecting person who trusted and cared about them? I just cannot understand that.

Edited January 17, 2020 by BuyMoreAndSave

[Dr.OO7]

31 minutes ago, BuyMoreAndSave said:

However, Delvey scammed unsuspecting people who she had supposedly befriended, even depleting them of their life savings in some cases. That's like a real backstabbing, sociopathic thing to do and could ruin someone's trust in people forever. Like how can someone enjoy a luxury vacation knowing that in order to pay for it, they're about to trash the finances of an unsuspecting person who trusted and cared about them? I just cannot understand that.

Yes, her behavior was despicable. And during an interview, she bluntly admitted that she wasn't sorry and would probably do it again. 

[Oldernowiser]

I wouldn’t let JaRule wash my car, let alone give any complete of his access to my financial records. 

I’m not sure why this even surprises me. Watching Billy start up another scam while out on bail for Fyre AND HAVING IT FILMED shows the depth of the crazy.

 I wonder if Billy’s Russian girlfriend is still hanging around...

[Dr.OO7]

33 minutes ago, Oldernowiser said:

I’m not sure why this even surprises me. Watching Billy start up another scam while out on bail for Fyre AND HAVING IT FILMED shows the depth of the crazy

Or stupidity. 

That's the moment I realized he was completely hopeless. You know the minute he gets out of jail he's going to do it again.