Sometimes, music festivals don’t pan out to be the experience you’re sold in the trailer. For Ja Rule’s inaugural Fyre Festival — which was set to take place this weekend and next weekend on an island in the Bahamas once owned by Pablo Escobar — that was taken to a catastrophic level.
Fyre Festival has stranded people at the island, and in Miami where private planes were supposed to take people to the festival from. Three days ago, Ja Rule sent out this tweet:
Let’s gooooo!!! In 3 days history will be made!!! #fyrefestival #fyre pic.twitter.com/WC9VvOHkLL
— Ja Rule (@Ruleyork) April 25, 2017
History was made, indeed. The festival is a massive #DumpsterFyre that won’t ever get off the ground. People who arrived at the island Thursday reported that tents were lit on fire, people were assaulted and robbed by locals, and the festival wasn’t at all prepared to bring people the immersive music festival they promised. Fyre Festival used a bevvy of models and social influencers to sell expensive packages to naive people, with reports that they were late in payment to performers. Check out the way the festival was sold in this YouTube video announcing it, featuring Emily Ratajkowksi, Kendall Jenner, and Bella Hadid among others:
A Wall Street Journal article stated that “Some artists still hadn’t been paid what they were owed based on the terms of their contracts” as late as late March. blink-182, one of the top-billed acts on the lineup, pulled out of the festival citing concerns the promoters wouldn’t be able to deliver a show that blink-182 fans expect:
— blink-182 (@blink182) April 27, 2017
A Twitter account named @FyreFraud has been detailing all the issues for the last several days, RTing people on the ground who have posted videos of themselves being deplaned in Miami or riding through the festival grounds shooting video of mattresses and tents just out in the open.
If you follow the FyreFestival Reddit, there are other horrifying things being posted, though some of it is being attributed to total trolls. Check in one some Fyre tweets and Instagram posts below:
In case you’re wondering, those “cabanas” are actually disaster relief tents.#fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/jaZpkIKVT2
— Matt Halfhill (@MattHalfhill) April 28, 2017
#fyrefestival update pic.twitter.com/tmuzuLl7el
— Tahnee (@itstahnee) April 28, 2017
UPDATE: they are having us sign papers for full refunds. They are just pieces of computer paper but I mean…refunds pic.twitter.com/oNa8EIojl1
— dylan (@DylanACOP) April 28, 2017
So happy our plane never took off. We were about 5 minutes from joining “Lord of the Fyre Flies: Ja Rule’s Revenge.” #FyreFestival
— Jeremy Burke (@JEREMYBURKE) April 28, 2017
Crushed it #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/H7jz41fw3E
— Allison Vatz (@avatz) April 28, 2017
Many others have been getting their shots in at Fyre Fest, including Dillon Francis:
#fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/tqpjaAbXbk
— Dillon Francis (@DILLONFRANCIS) April 28, 2017
Ja Rule stay taking L’s a decade after 50 ruined him #Fyrefestival
— TASTEBREAKERS (@tastebreakrs) April 28, 2017
The wildest thing about this #fyrefestival fiasco is that people trusted something promoted by Ja Rule.
— Dee ?? (@DeeIsASinner) April 28, 2017
reason #1364839 you shouldn’t trust instagram “influencers” #Fyrefestival
— TASTEBREAKERS (@tastebreakrs) April 28, 2017
And I thought trying to go see Empire of the Sun at Coachella weekend 2 was a shit storm ? #fyrefestival
— Neezy (@Knee_Sun96) April 28, 2017
Look at this fucking sandwich ? Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay eat better than this #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/80YLp3TIb8
— Cap Angels (@CapAngels) April 28, 2017
@th3_st0rm #fyrefestival makes your worst EDC experience look like walk in the park
— Neil V (@Neilio531) April 28, 2017
Kendall Jenner seems to be backing all the wrong brands #fyrefestival
— Hunter Lee (@huntslee) April 28, 2017
Don’t worry #fyrefestival, Kendall is bringing Pepsi in the morning
— DIOMI (@DiomiCordero) April 28, 2017
#fyrefestival i wonder how that capture the flag turn out pic.twitter.com/FVYLc6rU7B
— Mr. World Premiere (@yardieiz4life) April 28, 2017
