Fyre Festival investor Andy King warns of possible ‘red flags’ in relaunch

An investor in the disastrous Fyre Festival has issued a warning to anyone interested in taking part in the planned relaunch: “Proceed with caution.”

Andy King’s comments follow the announcement of Fyre II by Billy McFarland, who was recently released from prison for defrauding millions of dollars from the original film.

Mr King, who lost $1 million in the initial disaster, told the BBC that MacFarlane “had a reputation for being the biggest flop in pop culture and he wanted to turn it around. But I’m not sure he was doing it right.”

McFarland, 32, served four years in prison for the 2017 event in the Bahamas, which did not offer the “luxury” promised by tickets that cost up to $250,000. Tickets for Fyre II next April will cost up to $1.1 million (£840,000), he said.

“Fyre II has to work,” McFarlane told US media last week. He claims he spent a year planning it and has sold 100 tickets at the “early bird price” of $499.

Mr King, 63, said he had met with McFarlane a few months ago to discuss Fyre II, but he was concerned his former business partner had not “learned a lot in prison… he has started talking nonsense again”.

“Billy has talent. He has charisma. He knows how to get people involved,” the South Carolina event planner told BBC News.

“Think about it: When he was 24, he walked into investment banking firms in New York and had them invest $29 million.”

He said Fyre II could be a “huge success,” but if MacFarlane “runs the show again, it’s not going to work.”

Mr. King said the $1 million he invested in the original festival had yet to be returned and that McFarlane contacted him to meet with investors in the new venture.

“I saw a lot of red flags and red lights,” he said. “I feel bad. It makes me sad.

“We’re going to rent one of the biggest estates in the Hamptons and have a big, swanky party,” Mr. King said, referring to the famous playground for America’s rich and famous.

“We ended up sitting with 30 people in a pizza place along Montauk Highway.”

He said subsequent calls were canceled and he hasn’t heard from McFarland in seven or eight months.

The original Fyre was promoted as an exclusive resort for the wealthy by supermodels and celebrities, and the location was promoted as a private island that once belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Festival-goers arrived to find all talent shows canceled, slept on bare mattresses in storm-ravaged tents and ate cheese sandwiches from takeout boxes.

McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 for wire fraud and ordered to return $29 million to investors.

He was released in 2022 under an early release program but remains on probation until next August.

McFarland said tickets next year will start at $1,400 and go up to $1.1 million.

The most expensive packages include scuba diving, island hopping and a luxury yacht.

He said the event would be “more than just music” and could include sideshows such as a live karate fighting ring.

However, he admitted he hasn’t booked any talent yet.

Mr King said he still wanted to talk to his old business partners about his new venture, although he still faced backlash for his involvement in the original festival – he said people still gave him the “liar” treatment wherever he went .

Because of his efforts to reverse the disaster, he became a sympathetic figure in the 2019 Netflix documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.

exist Arguably the hottest moment in the entire sagawho described how McFarland urged him to provide sexual favors to Bahamian customs officials to ensure enough bottled water was available for the event.

However, this “funny reputation” came at a high price for Mr. King.

He added that he had kept in touch with McFarlane while serving his sentence and had given him brief advice on reputation management last year.

At the very least, he said, “the Fyre brand is so well-known around the world that a lot of people will be curious about it.”

“They’re all watching.”