The Fyre Fest Thread

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ctbaars

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2009
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Yet there were some people that did make the best of a bad situation. I applaud their ingenuity. There was a compilation of posts showing such but I can't find it now.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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Fuck yeah - Going to watch at least one of these tonight after dinner.

I love laughing at other people's stupidity.
 

sswingle

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2000
7,183
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Watched them both and preferred the Hulu one. It does a better job of showing how McFarland built the whole thing up as a scam. The Netflix one focuses more on his employees who were duped into thinking they were really going to pull it off.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
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Watched them both and preferred the Hulu one. It does a better job of showing how McFarland built the whole thing up as a scam. The Netflix one focuses more on his employees who were duped into thinking they were really going to pull it off.

I saw the Netflix one and yeah, that would be a better perspective. Netflix version spends most of the time painting him up as an idealist that simply has no idea what he's doing, until the 3rd act or so where we get more of his actual history, leading up to the Fyre platform, and then his brief attempt to start that ticket event scam, as soon as he was released on bond. Netflix only really spent the final moments painting the reality that this guy is really just a scammer at heart.
 
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I just can't help but wonder... Who does these types of Ponzi-schemes and doesn't think "Awwwwright! I can't wait to spend a bunch of years in prison" ?

I mean, unless you have a plan to leave the US just beforehand - I just don't quite get it. With the publicity he built up of paying celebrities for this event, he made it massive. If it was kept more small it wouldn't have such high scrutiny.

Atleast with Bernie Madoff he was able to keep the lie going for 20+ years - but still....
 

Skel

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
6,214
659
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I saw the Netflix one and yeah, that would be a better perspective. Netflix version spends most of the time painting him up as an idealist that simply has no idea what he's doing, until the 3rd act or so where we get more of his actual history, leading up to the Fyre platform, and then his brief attempt to start that ticket event scam, as soon as he was released on bond. Netflix only really spent the final moments painting the reality that this guy is really just a scammer at heart.

The Hulu one goes into more on what happened afterwards. I was laughing a lot at the scene where one of the people being interview was told the ticket scam was McFarland instead of some rando that bought Fyre's contact lists. Also, where Ja Rule goes from saying he didn't know anything to getting drunk on a radio show and saying "oh yeah.. it was completely my idea.. " was funny in all the wrong ways.


Amusingly the drama doesn't end here.. It seems both films are accusing the other of ethical issues.

Seems the Hulu one paid McFarland for his interview, but the Netflix one was made in partnership with Jerry Media, the people that did the promotion for the Fyre Festival.
 
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The Hulu one goes into more on what happened afterwards. I was laughing a lot at the scene where one of the people being interview was told the ticket scam was McFarland instead of some rando that bought Fyre's contact lists. Also, where Ja Rule goes from saying he didn't know anything to getting drunk on a radio show and saying "oh yeah.. it was completely my idea.. " was funny in all the wrong ways.


Amusingly the drama doesn't end here.. It seems both films are accusing the other of ethical issues.

Seems the Hulu one paid McFarland for his interview, but the Netflix one was made in partnership with Jerry Media, the people that did the promotion for the Fyre Festival.

I can understand scrutiny for paying McFarland, I don't understand it for Jerry Media.

If they are a marketing company they did what they were supposed to do. Someone gave them money to promote something. They promoted it. Unless it was to promote something illegal like a child sex ring, I can't see condemning the marketing company.
 

Skel

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
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I can understand scrutiny for paying McFarland, I don't understand it for Jerry Media.

If they are a marketing company they did what they were supposed to do. Someone gave them money to promote something. They promoted it. Unless it was to promote something illegal like a child sex ring, I can't see condemning the marketing company.

If they paid for the film then it could be said that the film makers spun it to remove blame that should be theirs. Not sure that happened here as much, but the Hulu doc did go into details on how Jerry Media was activly blocking and removing things that looked bad on all the Fyre's social media. I don't recall them talking much about it in the Netflix one past that it happened.
 
Mar 11, 2004
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The Hulu one goes into more on what happened afterwards. I was laughing a lot at the scene where one of the people being interview was told the ticket scam was McFarland instead of some rando that bought Fyre's contact lists. Also, where Ja Rule goes from saying he didn't know anything to getting drunk on a radio show and saying "oh yeah.. it was completely my idea.. " was funny in all the wrong ways.


Amusingly the drama doesn't end here.. It seems both films are accusing the other of ethical issues.

Seems the Hulu one paid McFarland for his interview, but the Netflix one was made in partnership with Jerry Media, the people that did the promotion for the Fyre Festival.

Clearly, we need a documentary to be made about the two documentaries!
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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I just can't help but wonder... Who does these types of Ponzi-schemes and doesn't think "Awwwwright! I can't wait to spend a bunch of years in prison" ?

Probably the exact same mindset as some who thinks robbing a liquor store is a clever plan.
You're likely to get shot right there.
You're likely to get shot by the police.
You will almost certainly be arrested.
You will definitely be convicted.
A couple hundred bucks is only a fraction of one months rent.

I suspect they either aren't thinking, or they think they'll get away with it. Which means they are either really stupid, or hella stupid.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
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watched the netflix documentary.

I think the biggest problem here is that, despite the news being literally filled with bad things everyday, there's still a fuckload of people in America who honestly believe the world is just one giant party and there's nothing wrong and bad things never happen and every human is honest and just wants to show you a good time for no reason at all.
Fun Fact: Not all of those people are rich millennials. But they tend to get the most shit for having such a mindset.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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Hulu documentary was OK too.

I notice a definite parallel between business scams and political scams.
Right around the same time these dumb lazy assholes were scamming people out of money for a festival that was all appearance and no substance, The Donald was doing the exact same thing to American voters.

People really have no fuckin critical thinking skills these days, and theres more than enough snake-oil salesmen to punish them for their stupidity.
 
Mar 11, 2004
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Watched them both and honestly they were pretty overrated for documentaries. The Hulu one was especially roughshod in that it had so many fucking random people that they told us hardly anything about so we don't even know why they're commenting on it. And so much tangential bullshit (oh he grew up with the internet; social media! blah blah blah, ignoring that scam artists like this douchebage existed before social media and the internet, they're not even the first major fraud shit like this what was enabled due to the internet and social media and influencers). I also didn't get much schadenfraude as I don't feel like hardly any of the people really suffered. Seems like most of the people, while obviously not pleased with the disparity in what they got versus what they paid for, didn't actually have a bad time. Maybe some discomfort for a few nights, but since they got to post on social media about it, it was likely a net gain, and they'll have a great story. The influencers probably didn't learn a damn thing and will still shill for anything as long as they're paid. The only people that really suffered were the ones that busted their asses to try and set things up just prior to it, which was mostly the local Bahamian people that never got paid, and then the Fyre people that had nothing to do with it that were then completely fucked over by it and possibly investigated by the FBI and probably will be audited for years because of they worked for this startup but didn't really have much of anything to do with this guy or the other shitheads that had enabled him so much prior. The ones around Billy should have done something before then so I really don't find much sympathy for them, and seems like few of them got any trouble and just corroborated what they knew to the FBI. Several of them were aware of the outright scam manner in which he was operating his other businesses and did nothing too. And the ones that knew about the outright lies needed to to put their food own and say "no, let's call this off, or delay it until we can actually get this stuff in place" but no one would tell that asshole no.

The Netflix one was like half just fluffing the stupid production of the promo trying to act like it was ever legitimate (probably to cop plausibility for fuckjerry's marketing shit).

Early on in the Hulu one I thought it was shitty and was trying to defend Billy McFarland in a similar way (seemed like they were trying to legitimize it and defend him as it just being ambition that didn't work out), but then as it went on it was hilarious watching as he was laughing one second and then they'd ask him something and he had deer in the headlights look as he tried to figure out what to say to explain some of the shit and knew he couldn't. I don't know if he thought he'd be able to just bullshit his way through, or didn't think they knew about all the shit or what, but he clearly went in expecting that he'd be able to spin it and was in over his head. I almost can't blame him though, he'd been so used to having yes men enable his bullshit and kicking the scam down the road, that I bet he thought this would help him clear his name.

The Netflix one had issues as well, but it was worth it just for the end, when Billy asked the one guy (that had shot the promo stuff for them?) to come to his hotel and then did the fucking ticket scams right in front of him...just holy shit. I don't know why he felt the need to have them record him in the first place, nor can I fathom why he would do that shit so brazenly knowing they were recording. People ask why these scummy assholes get caught, and its because they can't help it. Its a full on compulsion, and they're probably psychopathic so they genuinely don't understand how the rest of the world views them and think they're getting away with stuff because they're not facing immediate reprimands for it.

I think combined, they'd make for a solid single documentary, edited down. I really don't need to see the produced promo shit (just show the promo and point out how they used that with their other marketing, we don't need all the shit of them hanging out while they were shooting that stuff). I honestly believe both documentaries fluffed McFarland too much, as they kept having people going "I think Billy just dreams too big and then couldn't make it work out, but I think he genuinely tried" as though he wasn't blatantly scamming from the start with all of his ventures as they're finding out after investigating him. So many delusional people that want to believe in these charismatic liars.

And the one guy talking about how he was prepared to go suck the guy's dick to free up their imported booze or whatever...just what the fuck. I think that guy was in both docs but he looked totally different in the Hulu one? He was only in the Hulu one for just a moment, but he had darker gray hair that was shorter and I don't think had his glasses on, but I think that was the same guy (maybe I'm wrong though).

The most overwhelming thing I took from the documentary is how they kept acting like "well duh, this is gonna make people want to go to this like crazy, its like Woodstock but with Super Models on a private island in the Caribbean, not some disgusting muddy field in rural New York" and that it'll entice poor schmucks living with their parents, and how even if I had the disposable money I'd have zero interest in even the situation they promised in the promo (because it would obviously be incredibly fake, the rich people and models wouldn't actually give a shit about you, they'd just be nice because you're paying them stupid amounts of money for a limited amount of their time; I just don't get the appeal of living a total lie for a moment of your life - and holy shit at the Russian company that sets up the glamorous photo shoot of you in a private jet that doesn't even get in the air).

And then Ja Rule...hahahahahahaha what a fucking dipshit. I thought he was a dipshit as a rapper. I'm not surprised that he'd be involved in something like this, and he came off as a dipshit in every clip he was in.

Jerry Media produced the Netflix doc. They shifted all the blame on Billy.

Yeah. Plus uh, isn't it "fuckjerry"? Fuck those douchebags, they definitely deserve blame because they should have realized it was an outright scam and reported them to authorities instead of trying to help cover up for them on social media. They were also the assholes that pushed it to all the influencers (which, didn't they scam those people too? weren't they promising them a bunch of perks that they knew even after they were still recruiting those people did not exist and that the entire even was nothing like the promo shit they were still putting out?).

I laughed in the Hulu one when they talked to the one guy that left fuckjerry and they told him that they basically were trying to say they were only doing what Fyre told them to, and he was just incredulous that they'd cop that and then said "yeah, fuck those guys". But then I'm not sure he has room to talk as didn't he leave well after that shit went on? Maybe he didn't know but I find that difficult to believe.

watched the netflix documentary.

I think the biggest problem here is that, despite the news being literally filled with bad things everyday, there's still a fuckload of people in America who honestly believe the world is just one giant party and there's nothing wrong and bad things never happen and every human is honest and just wants to show you a good time for no reason at all.
Fun Fact: Not all of those people are rich millennials. But they tend to get the most shit for having such a mindset.

I don't even think it was that (that people view everything as a party). I'd guess the average person that bought into the Fyre Festival just saw an opportunity for a cool trip (that they were probably doing in lieu of their vacation, which some of them probably were already planning on a similar trip to the Bahamas or something and figured, hey, might as well pony up for this festival, could be once in a lifetime thing to say I was there).

I think most of them thought it'd be like Coachella and other events, where yes they're monetizing the hell out of it and it wasn't cheap (so the weren't under any delusions other than they thought it was legit, that they'd be at some music festival and there would be lots of models and other famous people there and they could pony up to hang out with them in exclusive VIP type stuff).

Fyre and fuckjerry leveraged all the vapid Instagram people pushing their fake lives (that are also tied with other stuff like Coachella and a bunch of other legit stuff), and that duped others like some of the bands and other people into believing it was all legit, so few people questioned it. They didn't have any of that shit actually in place though, so it was a total out and out scam and Billy knew it and the people around him did but had that weird cult-like blindness where they know things are wrong but their minds are like locked down to where they can't actively alter their actions.

Oh absolutely. And while I've called out the bullshit millennial blaming that has been rampant for the past several years, I was guilty of laughing at what I figured were spoiled rich kids having a nightmare when I first heard about this last year. Honestly, the fact that a scam of this level is getting so much publicity and focus, when there's bigger ones that have been happening at the same time and few people seem to care, is disheartening.

Hulu documentary was OK too.

I notice a definite parallel between business scams and political scams.
Right around the same time these dumb lazy assholes were scamming people out of money for a festival that was all appearance and no substance, The Donald was doing the exact same thing to American voters.

People really have no fuckin critical thinking skills these days, and theres more than enough snake-oil salesmen to punish them for their stupidity.

Absolutely, there's similarities in how bullshitters get away with pushing bullshit. Same with Enron, same with that Oklahoma guy that was Billy's first major investor, same with Turmp, and so on. That's why I call out people on even small bullshit, as it way too often ends up becoming a big bullshit situation (probably just link to some Leahy from Trailer Park Boys with one of his great "shit blizzard" speeches) if you let it fester and grow. And then its more difficult to deal with and show people that it is bullshit.

Oh, don't forget (and I love that they did mention it in I think the Hulu one) the scam by Holmes with Theranos that was happening at the same time. They mentioned another one first that I'm not familiar with (some girl that was stealing or fleecing money from a bunch of affluent rich kids in New York I think?).

People had been sounding the alarm on these charismatic douchebags in the startup world for some time. Unfortunately because it was often women calling out them having sex rooms and sex parties in the office and horrible sexual harassment that it got kinda lost as more just d-bag guy behavior that was also being called out at the same time.

Uber was chock full of these types of guys (although they've tried to flush some of them out including the CEO douchebag). I'm still fucking baffled that they lose hundreds of millions to billions a year, there's alternatives, and they're behind even automakers on autonomous driving so I don't see how Uber will have pretty much any business as the car companies themselves can make an app and/or probably just use Google to call up any number of similar autonomous cab services including Google's own - which has a drastically better track record; plus the multitude of major fiascoes, that Uber is still being invested in; to me they're a giant load of bullshit that is destined to collapse, and I never understood why it was getting the money it had and still gets).

If a businessperson ever feels the need to flash a large sum of cash as a wow factor, its a scam. Legit businesses don't do things like that. Its what scammers and bullshit artists do though. I remember people telling me how the Quixtar guys would do that (they'd host parties, and then bring in some alleged bigwig seller who'd then flash like 50grand in cash to wow the stupid college kids). They'd also talk up how the head guy owned the Orland Magic (although for some odd reason they wouldn't mention that he's head of Amway, they would even get angry if people associated Quixtar with Amway because the latter had all the feeback on it being a pyramid scheme; of course it was the same fucking company just rebranded and targeting college kids and other people that were naive and were too young to remember Amway).

I wouldn't say that. I think its intentional. You touched on it. People hear about awful shit all the time its overwhelming them (and just general information overload), they are willing to delude themselves. And when the scam can be obfuscated and backed up by legit middlemen that don't know (as was the case here, where they had the models and bands and others saying they were going but they weren't actually aware that it was really just a scam that was never going to work), it enables it to grow into something like this. But we're seeing a rise to similar eras in history, where people are looking for some guidance, and because of societal issues, it leads them to be desperate and willing to look past warning signs. The good news is, it tends to be just a phase. The bad news is, there's often historic, definitive events (that tend to be bad) that occur due to it, that seem to shock people out of their stupor. We haven't had that yet. I'm not sure what it will take either.
 
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Watching the Netflix documentary now and I can safely say I'm on the side of the media company. The job of the media company is to promote. They were given media footage, etc... and were for the most part working remotely to just fire up social media, make stupid media, etc.....

Billy was at the center of everyone. He knew what was going on. He knew what he was doing. He knew the financial implications. I give 0 of the blame to the marketing company. Also thought the Netflix one was better than the Hulu one overall.
 

PlanetJosh

Golden Member
May 6, 2013
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Thinner models make thicker wallets. You know, those Instagram models in ads that helped sell the tickets. It's not like they were going to have only thick looking women in those videos. I think there was one token bigger female in them to not make it look overly one sided in appearance.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
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Watched the Netflix one last night and was thoroughly entertained. Billy is a huge scumbag. He was living it up for a while too down in the Bahamas, that must have been nice, and it was on everyone else's dime. I felt really bad for all of the Bahamians that worked hard and never got paid. That shit ain't right.
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,255
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I gotta watch the Netflix one. At first I thought the Hulu one sounded better as someone said it dealt more with Billy (OHHHHH BILLYYYYYYYYY) but since I cancelled my Hulu a little while back all I gots is Netflix.

Also I think I'll be going to the movies for the first time in a while. I wanna see Cold Pursuit (comes out 02/08) cause Liam Neeson is BA.
 
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Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Others to Be Subpoenaed Over Fyre Festival Payments

https://www.eonline.com/news/100932...-to-be-subpoenaed-over-fyre-festival-payments

Again, seems silly. I'm all for holding people accountable, but most of these are just models. They went to the island - before they were even setup and they were videotaped / photographed acting like they were having an awesome time.

Stupid people see that and yell "Take my money!"
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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Well, they are probably not going to be personally held accountable. But their testimony sure as shit will be needed.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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Well, they are probably not going to be personally held accountable. But their testimony sure as shit will be needed.

Unless it involves putting that shithead Billy in prison longer - or extracting more money from him to pay people - I don't really care much.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
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Yeah those chicks did nothing wrong at all. They did what they were paid to do way before this thing completely went to the shitter.
 

Skel

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
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Again, seems silly. I'm all for holding people accountable, but most of these are just models. They went to the island - before they were even setup and they were videotaped / photographed acting like they were having an awesome time.

Stupid people see that and yell "Take my money!"

As I said above, there is an investigation into where the money went. The models are being brought in to testify on how much they were paid and how.