Posted on 04/14/2023 4:10:07 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
In a development that may land somewhere between Woodstock 1999 and “Staying Alive” on the list of all-time unnecessary sequels, Billy McFarland is promising that there will be a “Fyre Festival II,” even though there was never a Fyre Festival I.
“Fyre Festival II is finally happening,” the promoter posted on Twitter alongside a flame emoji. “Tell me why you should be invited.”
The immediate responses or quote-tweet comments includes such remarks as “Imagine having this level of audacity,” “I’ll just wait for the documentaries” and “Because I hate myself.”
McFarland was released from prison in 2022 after doing four years of a six-year sentence as a result of pleading guilty to charges involving defrauding investors and scamming ticket buyers. He was fined $26 million, as well, and has vowed to find a way to pay the investors he owes.
Earlier in April, he tweeted: “I was one of the most Googled people in the world. What’s next will be the biggest comeback of all time. My plan: get some wins under my belt; rebuild trust, and build an audience so I can build the next media empire.”
McFarlane added: “After 309 days locked in a 9 x 7 concrete box: books taken away; mail held; no phone calls, & 6 years on the sideline – there are few who understand the same level of consequence and failure, and absolutely no one who wants it badder.”
Prior to that, he included his phone number in tweets and asked for texts from interested parties, saying, “I owe people $26m. Here’s how I’m going to pay it back: I spend half my time filming TV shows. The other half, I focus on what I’m really, really good at. I’m the best at coming up with wild creative, getting talent together, and delivering the moment.”
In an interview last September with the New York Times, McFarland made it sound like he was looking beyond the world of entertainment events for his comeback. “I’d like to do something tech-based,” he said then. “The good thing with tech is that people are so forward-thinking, and they’re more apt at taking risk. If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back. Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship.”
More recently, setting up the idea that he might be returning to the scene of his crime, as it were, McFarland tweeted, “People aren’t getting paid back if I sit on the couch and watch TV.”
The entrepreneur’s misadventures with the disastrous Fyre Festival were recounted in two documentaries, “Fyre Fraud” on Hulu and “Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened” on Netflix. A third documentary is planned — this one about his putative comeback, post-prison — titled “After the Fyre.”
McFarlane may have one of his would-be headliners in mind, although he seems to lack a direct line of contact. “Hey 50 Cent, wanna chat?” he tweeted. Fitty did not jump onto his Twitter account to respond.
“...has vowed to find a way to pay the investors he owes.”
LOL...can you spell P-Y-R-A-M-I-D?
They’re going to have to get some sexy celebrities to advertise like they did before. I wonder if Harry and Meghan are available...
Obviously he committed some crimes but in principle it wasn’t a bad idea. He just got in way over his head, and didn’t allocate resources appropriately (or legally). Probably didn’t budget correctly, lock down the location and costs well in advance, lock down the artists (or the food, alcohol or the shelter) and spent a ton of money on promotion and personal enjoyment in the process. It was a big, ambitious enterprise run by people with no experience or oversight (like FTX).
While I’m not a festival goer myself, as I understand it the attendees typically bring their own “party favors”. So the goal is really just to get them there and make sure they enjoy the amenities.
I’m not sure he can pull off a second attempt unless he gets backing by some people who have more credibility. Really, he should sell the concept to a festival promoter and just take a royalty for the concept and some fees acting as a front man and promoter, with little hands on involvement. The people who run the Burning Man, or Lollapalooza, and similar festivals have the expertise and experience. But that’s probably not what he wants. So we’ll see if he can do it.
I think you just said something in total jest that absolutely could come together and help make this thing happen again fir real. Prince Harry and Meghan could indeed lend their celebrity names and with the right people and backing this COULD be a comeback of epic proportions. The American people love an underdog and are very forgiving of those who sincerely apologize and seek redemption. It would be a natural for those two, perhaps the surviving Beatles, President Trump and Mike Tyson to headline and promote and make it done right. Thoughts?
“You can fool some of the people ALL of the time!”
i’m stunned the guy didn’t get into crypto, coming up with something like FryeCrypto and promoting it as the next big thing ...
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