After both Netflix and Hulu aired their respective documentaries exploring 2017’s disastrous Fyre Festival, the topic once again catapulted to the forefront of national attention.
For those unfamiliar, the festival has now become a cultural phenomenon due to the extent of how far it missed the mark after cultivating a promised image of luxury and exclusiveness on social media. It was due to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma over the course of two weekends in April and May 2017, and instead never came to fruition.
On Friday (Feb. 8), TMZ reported that an investment company is looking to take festival organizers Billy MacFarland and Ja Rule to task after a $3 million loan was not returned. According to reports, the firm EHL Funding won a default judgment in their initial suit due to MacFarland’s lack of response.
The firm reportedly lent MacFarland and Ja Rule the sum in 2017, weeks before the festival was scheduled to take place. After the festival notoriously imploded, the company filed a lawsuit in order to see that their money be returned, marking yet another addition to the onslaught of legal trouble organizers are now facing.
Ja Rule, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be too concerned. After initially referring to the judge’s order as “fake news,” it was then reported that while the veteran rapper is listed as a defendant in the suit, the judge only deemed McFarland financially responsible due to failing to respond in the first place. It is also not the first time Ja Rule has denied being held liable for how the festival turned out.
According to the ruling, MacFarland, who last year began serving a six-year prison sentence for wire fraud, has also been hit with being responsible for 30 percent interest in the suit and EHL’s lawyer fees.
Since the festival did not end up going according to plan, Ja Rule has been on a seemingly successful quest to distance himself as far away as possible from MacFarland and all things Fyre. It remains to be seen if, and how, Ja Rule may find himself legally implicated for his affiliation with the failed music festival.