Billy McFarland Has Big Career Plans After Disastrous Fyre Festival
Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is wasting no time getting back into the event planning business. In 2017, festival enthusiasts travelled to the Great Exuma island in the Bahamas for the infamous Fyre Festival. Before the event took place, which was founded by McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, attendees were promised "the best in food, art, music, and adventure" in a promotional video — which featured high profile models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid as sponsors. Alongside its glamorous and exclusive environment, various music artists were also scheduled to perform, including Pusha T, John Legend, Big Sean, and Migos, per People.
However, promises of extravagant accommodations and "two transformative weekends" were quickly shot down by patrons –– who flooded social media with horrifying stories of destroyed tents and lack of food and water. "Stuck at #fyrefestival trying to leave for the last 8 hours. [Barely] any food or water or security or electricity," one attendee tweeted. In the days following the festival's cancellation, McFarland and his collaborators soon found themselves in hot water, not only with the public but also with authorities.
Due to the former Fyre Media CEO's shady business practices with investors, he was convicted on two counts of wire fraud in 2018 and was later sentenced to six years in prison, per CNN. However despite the failure of Fyre Festival and its subsequent legal consequences, McFarland has recently revealed that he's just getting started in the festival business.
Billy McFarland is planning second festival called PYRT
After pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud in 2018, Billy McFarland was given a six years in federal prison for his crimes. However after being incarcerated for nearly four years, the former Fyre Media CEO was given an early release in March, per TMZ. While the results of the disastrous Fyre Festival would scare any entrepreneur from taking on another festival, McFarland has shown no signs of giving up on his dreams. During a recent interview with Piers Morgan, the former Magnises founder revealed that he's already planning another large scale event called PYRT (pronounced Pirate).
When asked why people should trust him and his new venture, McFarland said, "In my mind, there's two ways to look at this, and I think that one option is to essentially crawl in a hole and die of remorse, and I think that's something a lot of people want," he explained. "But then how does everybody get paid? For me, I need to find pride in my life by at least trying to right my wrongs and make it up to everybody that I hurt."
Prior to his interview with Morgan, McFarland opened up about his new PYRT festival while on the "Full Send" podcast's December 1 episode. "PYRT is all about taking people to places that they think are impossible," the businessman explained. McFarland also added that the event will include a lucrative treasure hunt of 99 glass bottles — which feature luxurious prizes.