It was billed as the supremely luxurious, tropical island version of Coachella, with a marketing campaign that involved Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski cavorting in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas and a killer line-up, but Fyre Festival burnt out before it had even begun.
The brainchild of Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland saw hundreds of guests – who had all paid between $2131-$4000 for tickets – stranded on Exuma Bay, with no infrastructure, no musical acts – save a local Bahamian band – and disaster relief tents in place of the luxury accommodation they were promised.
Bands like Blink 182 pulled out amid rumours that musicians weren’t paid, Wall Street Journal reports, and Bella Hadid apologised for promoting the event on social media.
And then, the formal apology from Fyre Media came. And it went something like this:
“We thought we were ready, but then everyone arrived.”
That’s a direct quote.
Many guests didn’t even make it to the Bahamas after the private charter planes they were promised stopped running “due to overcapacity on the island”, but the ones who did have treated us all to an in-depth look at just what the now indefinitely postponed ‘Fyre Festival’ – aka #FyreFraud – involves. See for yourself below:
