Celebrities and musicians being served subpoenas in high-profile fraud cases – ring any bells? No, it’s not Grimes and Azealia Banks being made to preserve Elon Musk evidence this time; instead, it’s pretty much anyone who took money for the fiasco that was Fyre Festival in 2017.
Obviously, Billy McFarland’s luxury festival quickly descended into a Lord of the Flies-esque free-for-all when guests arrived in 2017, but to get people to pay the $4,000 – $12,000 ticket fee in the first place, the organisers had some pretty massive names attached. Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajkowski, and Elsa Hosk were some of the models paid to appear in the event’s marketing and plaster it all over social media.
Now, though, DNA Models and IMG Models might face subpoenas requesting info on the reported $1.2 million they were paid to cast these models. Kendall Jenner could even face her own, separate subpoena, for posting the promotional video to her Instagram for $250,000.
These subpoenas are subject to the approval of bankruptcy trustee Gregory Messer’s requests, but similar subpoenas – to talent agencies such as ICM, CAA, and Paradigm – were approved earlier this month. These were part of an investigation into the $1.4 million in booking fees paid for artists such as Rae Sremmurd, Blink 182, and Major Lazer.
Even more subpoenas might be received by Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka – paid $115,000 and $150,000, respectively, to promote a Fyre Media booking app – and Jerry Media, a marketing firm paid $90,000 to advertise the festival. Also caught up in the investigation are 16 companies that contributed food (remember those soggy cheese sandwiches?), travel, beverages, and more.
McFarland still faces years behind bars, but who knows how long the Fyre Festival fallout will last?
