Kendall Jenner, others sued for Fyre Festival payments

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Last Updated : Sep 01 2019 | 10:10 AM IST

Supermodels Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski are among the many celebrities, who are officially sued by a bankruptcy trustee as a result of promoting the infamous Fyre Festival.

According to court documents obtained by E! News, Jenner, Ratajkowski and more stars are officially being sued to recover money allegedly paid to them for their role in promoting the infamous event.

Along with Jenner and Ratajowski, musicians Migos, Pusha T, Blink-182, and Lil Yachty were also hit with the lawsuit, which was filed this week in New York's U.S. Bankruptcy Court by the event's trustee, Gregory Messer.

Messer is seeking to recover money paid to performers, talent agencies, vendors and others involved in the marketing and failed execution of Fyre Festival.

Messer has been investigating the event scandal, led by William Billy McFarland, since 2017, when the event was supposed to take place in the Bahamas.

The lawsuit claimed that Jenner was paid USD 275,000 for a single social media post.

The event trustee stated that Jenner's post, which referenced her "G.O.O.D. Music Family" and did not indicate that she was paid to promote the event, "intentionally led certain members of the public and ticket purchasers to believe."

Rapper Kanye West, who founded the G.O.O.D. music label, was scheduled to perform at the event.

"This conduct demonstrates a clear lack of good faith on Jenner's part," Messer stated.

Separate bankruptcy lawsuits alleged that Fyre Media paid DNA Model Management, which represents Ratajkowski, USD 299,000. Messer stated that the model "made at least one" social media post promoting the event, but did not disclose she received payment for the post.

International Creative Management was paid USD 350,000 for Migos, Lil Yachty and Rae Sremmurd to perform. Creative Artists Agency was paid USD 500,000 for Blink-182 and Nue Agency was paid USD 730,000 for Pusha T, Desiigner and Tyga, according to the lawsuit.

The festival was described as a "cultural moment created from a blend of music, art and food", scheduled to take place across two weekends in 2017. However, attendees were upset to discover that upon their arrival in the Bahamas, several musical acts had dropped out.

The festival scandal garnered worldwide disrepute and spawned a number of documentaries.

McFarland is currently serving out a 6-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the fraud.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

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First Published: Sep 01 2019 | 9:51 AM IST

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