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Soulja Boy, Kendall Jenner, and others may be sued for Fyre Festival fraud
If you weren’t aware of Fyre Festival when it took place or had any inkling of what it ever was, as soon as the two docs dropped on Hulu and Netflix last week, you surely did.
Both the Hulu documentary Fyre Fraud as well as Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, brought serial con artist Billy McFarland to the public’s attention, and it’s not been in the best of light.
#FyreFestivalNetflix became a trending topic on Twitter, a Gofundme for a stiffed Fyre Fest caterer topped $130,000, and everyone else was left in awe at what a clusterfuck of a disaster the greatest party that never happened truly was.
Now, Billboard is reporting Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, and other creators who helped promote the festival are now facing subpoenas.
Bankruptcy trustee Gregory Messer asked for the subpoenas Friday, Jan. 25 in efforts to understand what happened to $11.3 million paid out by McFarland in the weeks and months leading up to the doomed festival.
Messer subpoenaed DNA Model Management on claims they were paid $299,000 by McFarland in March 2017, as well as some of the artists who were paid to promote or use the Fyre Media app, which was intended to give fans direct access to booking artists without the hassle of an agent.
Of these subpoenaed was Soulja Boy, who was paid $115,000 in August 2016 as well as Waka Flocka Flame who received a $150,000 payment around the same time.
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Kylie Jenner is in hot water, too. The mega-influencer who has 125 million followers on Instagram is also facing a subpoena after reportedly being paid $250,000 to post a promotional video to her Instagram page, a move that has since caused the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on transparency and disclosure rules for sponsored posts because she didn’t disclose that she was paid.
Another big name they’re coming after is Jerry Media. According to Messer, they were paid to promoted Fyre Festival on social media despite warning signs and reportedly deleted comments with complaints on social media after receiving a payment of $90,000 in March 2017.
Messer even requested subpoenas for 16 companies responsible for travel, food, staging, beverages, consulting and more.
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Due to not keeping accounting records from the millions spent, Messer, according to his talent agency subpoena request, “has required the Trustee to uncover as much information as he can from third parties in order to gain a full understanding of (McFarland’s) financial affairs.”
It appears, although slowly and a little at a time, justice is starting to unfold for those affected by this fraudulent affair. Some attendees have filed and won lawsuits, while others suites are still pending, but these subpoenas suggest that there’s at least an effort to make right what was awfully wrong.
Jerry Media denies liability, Ja Rule claims he too was tricked and who knows if Kendall will ever have to cough up anything, but one thing is for sure — the exposure of the doc has definitely made things spicier for all parties involved.
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Billy McFarland is currently serving a six-year federal prison sentence for multiple counts of fraud.
I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!
— Ja Rule (@jarule) January 20, 2019