Fyre Festival hit with $100 million class-action lawsuit
Suit claims festival was "more like The Hunger Games than Coachella"...
The fallout from Fyre Festival continues with the troubled festival being hit with a $100 million class-action lawsuit, it has been announced today.
Brought by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos on behalf of festival goer Daniel Jung, the lawsuit accuses the festival organisers of fraud, citing the festival's "lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees — suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions."
The suit claims that the festival — promoted by rapper Ja Rule and businessman Billy McFarland — was more like “The Hunger Games” or “Lord of the Flies” than Coachella.”
Geragos took aim at the festival's organisers, claiming Fyre was "nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning," intended to "fleece attendees for hundreds of millions of dollars by inducing them to fly to a remote island without food, shelter or water — and without regard to what might happen to them after that,” and that Rule and McFarland had been reaching out to their celebrity friends warning them to not attend the festival before the festival had even begun.
The festival has also been accused of breaking FTC trade rules on promoting products and services on social media, after it was revealed by a leaked pitch deck some of the incentives celebrities could get — including free flights and accommodation — if they promoted the festival to their social media fans.
Fyre Festival organisers are already working on the 2018 edition of the festival and are offering attendees double VIP passes for the next edition in lieu of getting a full refund.
