Remember when Fyre Festival seemed like the closest thing to the apocalypse? Kendall Jenner sure does, as she was sued over her involvement in the doomed festival back in December. Three years after the event was meant to take place, the 24-year-old model can finally put the ordeal behind her — and it’ll only cost her $90,000.
Along with a number of musicians and influencers, Jenner was sued by Gregory Messer, the trustee in charge of the bankruptcy for Fyre Media, co-founded by Fyre Fest mastermind and disgraced entrepreneur scam artist Billy McFarland. The lawsuits are aiming to recover the reported $14.4 million McFarland spent planning the luxury festival. $275,000 of that sum was paid to Jenner for a single Instagram post promoting the event, something the trustee argued amounted to a “fraudulent transfer” since the organizers knew the festival would never succeed.
Jenner denied liability, but has agreed in mediation to return $90,000, or about a third of what she was paid (via The Daily Mail). Messer’s attorney, Fred Stevens, countered Jenner’s denial, arguing that she never made it clear to her followers that her social media post was sponsored. What’s more, the Instagram caption referenced the “G.O.O.D. Music Family” as “headliners,” which Stevens claimed led the public to believe that Kanye West, Jenner’s brother-in-law, was playing Fyre, when he never was.
Further, the suit argued Jenner failed to “inform their fans and followers” that she’d pulled out of the festival after learning of the disasters problems besieging the preparations. “This conduct demonstrates a clear lack of good faith on Jenner’s part,” Stevens said.
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In the end, it’s still pretty wild that Jenner made $185,000 for promoting a festival that never even happened. She’s not the only one facing legal ramifications for her involvement, though. Messer also has suits pending against Blink-182, Migos, model Emily Ratajkowski, and others who were paid to take part in Fyre Fest in various capacities.
McFarland hasn’t escaped legal ramifications either. He’s currently serving a six-year jail sentence for fraud, and was ordered to pay $26 million in restitutions. He’s undoubtedly hoping sales of his poorly conceived memoir, Promythus: The God of Fyre, help put a dent in that number.
Meanwhile, McFarland’s partner in Fyre, Ja Rule, has been legally cleared of culpability in the disastrous event. How much you want to bet his totally unrelated track “FYRE” ends up on the soundtrack to The Lonely Island and Seth Rogen’s long-gestating movie spoofing the failed fest?
