Fyre Festival Hit With Third Lawsuit
Fyre Festival continues to face new legal challenges. The ill-fated tropical event’s co-founders, Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, were hit with a $100 million fraud lawsuit on Sunday, followed by another lawsuit on Tuesday, with the added claim that their model-filled social media campaign violated U.S. trade rules. Yesterday, Ja Rule, McFarland, Fyre Media, and chief marketing officer Grant Margolin were hit with a third class-action lawsuit. The new complaint, obtained by Pitchfork, was filed in federal court in New York.
Similar to the previous lawsuits, attendees Matthew Herlihy and Anthony Lauriello are suing over what they allege were Fyre organizers’ “false representations, material omissions, and negligence regarding the ‘Fyre Festival’ and their failure to organize, prepare, and provide attendees with the experience that the Defendants marketed as being a luxurious private-island getaway.” The lawsuit seeks damages for Herlihy, Lauriello, and other attendees for “negligence, fraud, and violations of consumer protection statutes.”
“Upon the arrival of guests to the island of Great Exuma for the first weekend, the island was lacking basic amenities, was covered in dirt, and guests had to sleep in tents with wet blankets,” the complaint states. “There were no communal showers or bathrooms as promised; instead there were porta potties (only about one for every 200 yards) that were knocked down and only three showers although there were hundreds of people arriving … Additionally, there were no other basic amenities like soap, sunscreen and shampoo, and no electricity.”
Herlihy and Lauriello each bought $1,027 ticket packages, according to the complaint. Herlihy put $900 and Lauriello put $1,000 on wristbands that were supposed to be used instead of cash. Lauriello was also robbed of his headphones, jeans, sneakers, and other personal items, the lawsuit asserts.
Although no dollar amount is specified, the complaint asks for “compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages,” plus interest, attorneys’ fees, and “an order of restitution and all other forms of equitable monetary relief.”
Representatives for the plaintiffs and Fyre Media didn’t immediately respond to Pitchfork’s requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Read “Searching for Answers in Fyre Festival’s Viral Disaster.”
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