Top 10 Pop culture moments of the decade #8: Fyre Festival
There has never been an event that was this much of a hot mess than the Fyre Festival
Helen ZhangAn entire decade has passed and, surprisingly, we are still here. From the world ending in 2012 to fidget spinners, this decade has been filled with iconic and weird memories. In this segment, our writer reflects back on this decade and decides which pop culture moments were the most memorable or the most influential.
Did you think I was going to forget about the Fyre Festival debacle? Nope. This entire event was a hot mess, so it has to be on this list.
Fyre Festival was a fraudulent music festival organized by Billy McFarland, CEO of Fyre Media Inc., and rapper Ja Rule. Attendees spent hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on tickets and high-profile celebrities promoted the event. Alongside Hollywood’s biggest names attending the event, the festival also promised exquisite food, amazing performances, and a unique adventure — it definitely was an adventure, but not in a good way, that’s for sure.
When festival-goers showed up, they were greeted with tents, damp beds and pathetic cheese sandwiches. Many of the visitors went home. Lawsuits were filed against McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence. The true victims of this entire event were the residents of the Great Exuma, the island where Fyre Festival was hosted, as they had to deal with McFarland’s debts.
Do I feel bad for the ultra-rich having to experience this? Nope, not at all. Do I feel bad for all the staffers and the inhabitants of the island that were affected after this shit show? Yeah.
Nevertheless, two documentaries were born out of this fiasco: Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.
There has never been a festival this poorly executed in all history before Fyre Festival.
Remember kids, don’t listen to supermodels and influencers online.
