Fyre Festival organizers have settled their lawsuit with Blink-182, Major Lazer and Disclosure. The suit began after Gregory Messer, a trustee who oversees the $26 million bankruptcy of the jailed festival organizer, Billy McFarland, filed 14 lawsuits last December to reclaim the $14.4 million that Fyre Media had paid to artists who had been set to play at the music festival.
Blink-182 had been paid $500,000 to play the music festival, and the band has returned $135,000. Paradigm, which represents Major Lazer and Disclosure, received $1.5 million from the festival, returning $225,000. Nu Agency, which represents Pusha T, Desiigner and Tyga, received $730,000 in total, and has returned $100,000. Pusha T contributed $50,000, Desiigner returned $25,000 and Tyga returned $20,000.
The suit began as a way to recoup some of the loss from bands and musicians that wound up cancelling their performances at the ill-fated Fyre Festival. The suit also alleged that Blink-182 “retained [the funds they received]. In [their] cancellation tweet, the band did not disclose to its fans and others any of the problems that it was having with Fyre Festival and its management, or that the Festival appeared to be in serious trouble.”
Numerous acts who had been scheduled to play at Fyre Festival cancelled at the last minute. Festival stages had also not been built, campsites were essentially non-existent and water was difficult to find. The festival itself was cancelled shortly after attendees began to arrive. Fyre Festival had been sold as a luxury music festival in the Bahamas, with the lowest ticket costs still over $1,000, and more expensive options pushing into six-figures. The festival, which promoted itself as a cashless event, led attendees to spend the weekend stranded without any money or a way to return back to the United States. McFarland was sentenced to six years in jail in 2018, pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
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