【2010 Archives】

010 Archivesschadenfreude in the aftermath of Fyre Festival proved too irresistible for the internet, but it's now taken a serious turn.

We once laughed at these rich millennials, sucked into a post-apocalyptic ordeal hyped up by Instagram models and a rapper who hasn't made anything memorable in a decade (I still love Ja Rule's Livin' It Up, just for the record.)

But according to an article by the New York Times, the organisers of the festival, Fyre Media, are now really up the creek without a paddle.

The event is now at the center of a criminal investigation, with the United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI "looking into possible mail, wire and securities fraud," according to a source who spoke to the news outlet.

That's on top of the several lawsuits filed against the festival's organisers by an attendee, intended to recoup the lost thousands of dollars that was spent on "travel, lodging, and time off work" on an event that was more "Lord of the Fliesthan Coachella."

Then of course there's the troubling issue of festival employees who have been told they won't be paid.

Headliner Blink-182 can't get its equipment out of "customs limbo," and a restaurant owner from the Bahamas who catered the event and rented villas is owed $134,000, according to the news outlet.

While Ja Rule was the "public face" of the ordeal, the sources who spoke to the New York Timesfeel most aggrieved with the Fyre Media's owner, Billy McFarland. His company reportedly hasn't paid the bills of contractors and failed to heed warnings from staff who said the festival wouldn't be ready in time.

So, Fyre Festival 2018, anyone?