Fyre Festival attendee Daniel Jung is suing organisers – rapper Ja Rule and Billy McFarland – for fraud, negligent representation and breach of contract.
The ticket-holder filed the $100m (€92m) suit via celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, after the ‘disaster’ festival made headlines last week.
The event, which was promoted by the likes of Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, caused outrage after headline acts cancelled last minute, the ‘luxury’ accommodation that was promised resembled disaster relief tents and there was a reported lack of food and water on the so-called paradise island.
“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 – that was closer to The Hunger Games or Lord of the Flies than Coachella,” the filing said, according to the BBC.
Wow, the 7th season looks sick #FyreFestival pic.twitter.com/BmsBjt3NwH
— ?A Solid 6? (@OldBaconDave) April 29, 2017
“The Fyre Festival was nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning,” the suit alleged.
Meanwhile, organisers Ja Rule and Billy McFarland have since apologised and and offered to refund the ticket price, which ranged from $1200 to over $100,000.
“Due to unforeseen and extenuating circumstances, Fyre Festival has been fully postponed. After assessing the situation this morning and looking at best options for our guests, we cannot move forward as we hoped we could.
“At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get all travellers home safely,” Fyre Festival organisers said in a statement.
Ja Rule said, “We are working right now on getting everyone on the island SAFE…that is my immediate concern.,,I wanted this to be an amazing event it was NOT A SCAM as everyone is reporting I don’t how everything went so left but I’m working to make it right by making sure everyone is refunded.”
According to reports, organisers are now insisting that the event WILL take place in 2018, and are offering ticket-holders the chance to get double the amount of VIP tickets for next year instead of a refund – if they’re “down for the adventure”.
just fyi: Fyre Festival customers can forgo a refund in exchange for VIP passes to next year’s festival 🙂 pic.twitter.com/nUWWlpKX9R
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) May 1, 2017
