The music goers who purchased tickets to the disastrous Bahamian music festival are due to receive settlement money as they win in class action lawsuit against the organizers.
- Apr 16, 2021
AceShowbiz - Fyre Festival ticket holders have been awarded over $7,200 (£5,200) in a class action settlement.
Trustees have reached a settlement with 277 people who attended the disastrous 2017 Bahamian event, awarding each of them $7,220 pay-outs. The settlement was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of New York on Tuesday (13Apr21).
"It's a small but significant step for ticket holders who were defrauded and had their lives up ended as a result of the fraudulent conduct by (Fyre founder) Billy McFarland," Ben Meiselas, the lead attorney for the class-action, tells Billboard.
Meiselas went on to admit that not all ticket holders will receive the full sum as there are multiple creditors involved in the bankruptcy case, but added, "There will be monetary relief in some form or fashion pending approval."
The news of the settlement comes a month after McFarland finally confessed to lying to investors in an unauthorised phone interview from prison, which landed him in solitary confinement.
He told "Dumpster Fyre" podcast host Jordan Harbinger he "knowingly lied" to those backing the ill-conceived music event on the Bahaman island of Great Exuma to raise money for the festival.
McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year sentence at the Federal Correction Institution in Elkton, Ohio after pleading guilty to multiple counts of fraud in 2017, told Harbinger, "The crime was inexcusably lying about the status of the company to get the money I thought I needed for the festival."
The Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music festival with Blink-182 and Ja Rule among the acts set to appear, but the event turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, with music fans and thrill seekers, who paid thousands to attend, left stranded without proper accommodation or amenities.
McFarland also admitted he lied to himself, convinced he could pull the festival off. "I legitimately thought the festival was going to be executed," he said.
