This week, Netflix left us perpetually in shock with a look back to the 2017 Fyre Festival in “Fyre: The Greatest Festival That Never Happened.”
The party goers who dumped thousands on two weekends worth of yacht parties, binge drinking, and celebrity appearances were the laughing stock of social media back in 2017. One attendee was even reported to have loaded $800,000 onto their cashless wristband to spend at the festival (Whose children are these?)
Netflix gave us a deeper glimpse into how the festival fell apart in the first place and how badly things actually turned out.
Festival “mastermind,” Billy McFarland is currently serving a 6-year jail sentence for fraud after the luxury festival he promised never came together. Well, maybe an eighth together, but still not remarkably close to what visitors were expecting.
Everyone working on #FyreFestival: Billy, this isn\’t gonna work
Billy: shut up yes it will
Fyre Festival: *is a huge dumpster fire*
Billy: pic.twitter.com/fFqLSKi8yc— Mica Burton (@MicaBurton) January 19, 2019
The documentary revealed some of the lowest of lows, but not all attendees were in such a pit of despair, despite not even getting their money back.
While we might’ve been thoroughly entertained by the mess that was the “festival,” the repercussions were very real. Bahamian workers who worked tirelessly to bring the festival together were left unpaid and without hope of ever getting the money they deserved. However, social media isn’t just good for collectively making fun of something.
In @netflix\’s #FyreFestival documentary, local caterer Maryann Rolle said she had to use her own savings to pay staff that were ignored by event organisers. A GoFundMe page set up for her has since raised over $130,000.https://t.co/aFqzTWre37 pic.twitter.com/KNbcXw2zvl
— INSIDER (@thisisinsider) January 21, 2019
Not sure what the lesson learned is in all of this; but if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.