Rapper Ja Rule is reportedly facing a $100 million lawsuit over his canceled Fyre Festival in the Bahamas.
The Always On Time hitmaker teamed up with technology entrepreneur Billy McFarland to launch the inaugural luxury bash, which was set to take place over two weekends, starting on Friday.
Fanswere charged thousands of dollars for travel packages to see special performances from the likes of Major Lazer, Tyga, Pusha T, and Desiigner on the Exuma Cays, but those who arrived on Thursday were left furious after discovering the plush villas they were promised were more like “disaster relief tents”. According to complaints on social media, attendees were also disappointed with the bad catering, and were even more stunned to find the site of the scheduled concerts in chaos, with nothing properly set up for the event.
Festival organizers initially acknowledged the troubles as an “unexpected start” and vowed to press on with the show, but by Friday morning, bosses decided to postpone the gigs indefinitely and refund ticket holders, citing “circumstances beyond our control”.
Attorney Mark Geragos has now filed a fraud and breach of contract lawsuit against Ja Rule, real name Jeffrey Atkins, and McFarland on behalf of his client Daniel Jung and other plaintiffs. In the legal papers, Geragos claims Jung purchased a ticket package and airfare for $2,000.
Geragos is seeking damages “in excess of $100 million” for Jung and the other plaintiffs, according to TheWrap.com.
“Shockingly, Defendants had been aware for months that their festival was dangerously under-equipped and posed a serious danger to anyone in attendance,” the lawsuit reads.
“More troublingly (sic), Mr. McFarland and Mr. Atkins began personally reaching out to performers and celebrities in advance of the festival and warned them not to attend – acknowledging the fact that the festival was outrageously underequipped and potentially dangerous for anyone in attendance,” it adds.
Ja Rule has since apologized for the conditions festival attendees faced.
“I’m heartbroken at this moment,” he posted on Twitter on Friday. “My partners and I wanted this to be an amazing event. It was NOT A SCAM. I truly apologize as this is NOT MY FAULT… but I’m taking responsibility. I’m deeply sorry to everyone who was inconvenienced by this.”
And he has since revealed all festival attendees have returned home safely.
“Relieved to share that all guest (sic) are safe, and have been sent the form to apply for a refund,” he wrote. “Our deepest apologies…”
