Fyre Festival became one of the most notorious cancelled music events in history, with its founder, Billy McFarland, currently serving a six year prison sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud charges in relation to the festival and his media company. According to Pitchfork, McFarland has been placed in solitary confinement following the release of his new podcast, Dumpster Fyre.
McFarland’s legal counsel have alleged that his placement in solitary was a result of McFarland’s appearance on the podcast, which debuted earlier this week. McFarland was reportedly able to make an appearance on the podcast via prison phone.
“We believe the investigation stems from his participation in the podcast and the photographs that were taken and utilized in the trailer, which were all properly taken,” McFarland’s lawyer Jason Russo told The New York Times. “We don’t believe he’s violated any rule or regulation, and there can’t possibly be anything else. He’s been a model prisoner there.”
During his appearance on Dumpster Fyre, McFarland stated that all of the proceeds generated from the program would go toward the $26 million he has been ordered to pay the investors he defrauded. McFarland is currently scheduled to be released from prison on August 30, 2023.
Fyre Festival was cancelled last minute, after all of its artists, which included high profile artists such as Blink-182, Disclosure and Major Lazer on its line-up, dropped out of the event, which was supposed to be held on the island of Exuma in the Bahamas. To make matters worse, the stages for the festival had not been built, the campsites were extremely limited and water was reportedly difficult to find. The festival attempted to go cashless as well, leaving many of its festivalgoers without money and created difficulty when they attempted to return to the United States. The festival settled its lawsuit with several artists last month, at the behest of a bankruptcy trustee.
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