Top 10 Craziest Reveals in Fyre & Fyre Fraud
Script written by Liam Schell
Top 10 Craziest Reveals from "Fyre" and "Fyre Fraud"
It was the event of a generation… and it didn’t even happen. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Craziest Reveals from Netflix’s “Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened”, and Hulu’s “Fyre Fraud”.For this list, we’ll be taking a look at the wildest moments and insane insights into this truly bizarre flop of a festival. We will be taking a deep dive into these highly acclaimed documentaries, so spoilers are inevitable.
#10: Fyre Fest’s Looters
“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
If someone were to paint you a picture of a dimly lit campsite full of hungry, young savages, your mind might jump to some of your favorite horror movies before you thought of the year’s hottest music festival. But, as seen in Netflix’s documentary, this was not only the reality at Fyre, but it was actually worse than any of us could have even imagined. We all heard the stories when news of the failed Festival actually broke back in 2017, but no one could’ve guessed some of the things that many of the young looters ended up doing to survive – including raiding shipping containers full of other guests’ luggage. One attendee even claimed that they witnessed their friend urinating around the campsite just to avoid having neighbors close by.
#9: Comment Censorship
“Fyre Fraud” (2019) & “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
Social media marketing has opened up a lot of doors for companies big and small, but Fyre’s tactics heading into their inaugural festival were just plain bizarre. After bombarding social media users with orange tiles, and intriguing them enough to actually buy tickets to the festival, Fyre Fest staff were dumbfounded when it came to answering all the incoming questions from thousands of ticketholders. On top of this, many sceptic accounts arose and began trying to spread the word as to the truth about the festival. Fyre’s response? Block any and all comments featuring negative buzzwords, and eventually, any and all buzzwords altogether.
#8: Lost Keys
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“Fyre Fraud” (2019)
It seemed that by the time the festival rolled around, everything that could have gone wrong already had. According to Fyre Media founder Billy McFarland, there was a simple reason why festival attendees were forced to sleep in FEMA tents. It was all due to the fact that he’d misplaced the keys to the island villas that were previously promised to guests. There were supposedly around 250 luxury houses rented for the event, costing the festival up to $2 million. Whether this is factually true or not is still up in the air, but based on everything we know about McFarland up to this point, which side are you really on?
#7: Kendall Jenner’s Instagram Post
“Fyre Fraud” (2019) & “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
Both “Fyre Fraud” and “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” feature detailed deconstructions of influencer culture. And you can’t take on social media figures without a mention of one Kendall Jenner. Hulu’s “Fyre Fraud” notes that the model has been at the forefront of nearly every millennial movement, but few could have predicted just how much her voice is really worth. Dropping a figure of $250,000 for just one promotional post about Fyre Festival, Hulu’s show attributes much of the early ticket sales to models like Jenner – and the impact that they can have. Who knew you could make that much money without even lifting a finger?
#6: Cashless Wristbands
“Fyre Fraud” (2019) & “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
The six-month production process of Fyre Festival proved to be extremely expensive, and via the now-infamous Billy McFarland, it didn’t go off without a few sketchy tricks from up his sleeve. After noticing a lack of funds of their own, Fyre Fest emailed ticketholders explaining to them that it was mandatory to load up their festival wristbands with cash for the event. The email even misled festival-goers to believe that they’d need at least $300 per day and that other attendees had added up to $3,000 on average to their accounts. Based on how the festival actually turned out, we’re assuming the $800,000 the company reportedly accumulated through this initiative didn’t really pay off.
#5: Escobar Island
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“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
Pablo Escobar might not be the first person you think of when you’re dreaming of paradise, but Billy McFarland clearly wants us all to think otherwise. Most likely banking off the success of Netflix’s “Narcos”, the promo video for Fyre Festival used the event’s destination of “Pablo Escobar’s Private Island” as a major selling point. But, it quickly turned out that Fyre had spoken too soon, because their boasting of this fact saw them lose permission to use the island as a stage for the event in the first place. Instead, the festival was forced to relocate at the last minute to another island willing to host it, thereby failing to follow through on its promises once again!
#4: Everything About Grant Margolin
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“Fyre Fraud” (2019) & “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
While most people would watch the Hulu and Netflix documentaries and take note mostly of Fyre mastermind Billy McFarland, there’s perhaps an equally interesting figure hiding just beneath the surface. Chief marketing officer Grant Margolin is described in Netflix’s film as being an extremely neurotic character whose anxious demeanour is bizarre to watch. Flip over to Hulu’s take on the guy and see him described in even more detail, including one story in which he reportedly penned a 1,000-word email to flesh out a potential musical score for the now infamous Fyre Festival promo video. Also, apparently Margolin works as an EMT now, so there’s that....
#3: The Caterer’s Financial Troubles
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“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
If both of these documentaries made you lose any and all faith you had left in humanity, then this story actually kind of had a happy ending. Netflix rounds off its film with shots showing the tears of caterer Mary-Anne Rolle, which became one of the most memorable images to come out of either documentary. Rolle recounts the troubles that the failed festival brought to her and her country, both physically and financially, and she reveals how she was eventually forced to pay the overworked team that was brought on to help set up the event. After all was said and done, Rolle paid out over $50,000 from her own pocket to cover all the wages. However, kind viewers around the world saw Rolle down on her luck, and raised over $170,000 to help her pay off her debts.
#2: Billy McFarland Post-Fyre Festival
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“Fyre Fraud” (2019) & “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
We’d love to say that once the Fyre Festival debacle was done, Billy McFarland had learned his lesson, and life went on… However, that’s far from the case. After facing a class action lawsuit valued at $100 million dollars and somehow making bail after a charge for wire fraud, McFarland emerged a free man. But, he soon returned to his fraudulent ways as Fyre Festival attendees began receiving emails promoting cheap, fraudulent tickets to in-demand events such as Coachella and Hamilton. It was only a matter of time before Billy’s name began emerging as the potential culprit. McFarland was eventually charged for the selling of fraudulent tickets on June 12th, 2018, and then sentenced that October to six years in federal prison.
Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions…
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#1: Andy “Takes One for the Team”
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“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (2019)
It’s always good to be a team player, but maybe don’t go quite as far as event producer Andy King, who almost went to extreme lengths to try and turn this already failing festival into a hit. According to the Netflix show, King found himself in a bizarre situation when the event’s bottled water supply was held up at customs in the Bahamas. Head honcho Billy McFarland (that guy, again!) needed a quick solution. So, according to King, Billy asked him to perform oral sex on a customs officer to free the water. After a quick shower and a rinse of mouthwash, King was actually on his way to the customs office… But was mercifully told that the water would be released with a payment being made at a later date. Nothing else required.
