Fyre Festival's official merch is up for auction. Remember that happened?
The Fyre Festival captivated the internet in 2017, giving us bountiful memes, duelling documentaries, and the blowjob guy. Now you can nab yourself some official merch to commemorate the disastrous event, with proceeds going to organiser and con artist Billy McFarland's victims.
The U.S. Marshals Service is auctioning off 126 lots of "minor assets" from the now infamous music festival, including Fyre Festival-branded caps, hoodies, sweatpants, wristbands, and commemorative tokens. With starting bids ranging from $5 to $65, the auction of these seized items will probably barely dent the $26 million McFarland defrauded from over 80 investors, but it's better than nothing.
"This Fyre Festival-branded clothing and other items that were seized from Billy McFarland were originally intended to be sold at the Fyre Festival itself but were kept by McFarland, with the intent to sell the items and use the funds to commit further criminal acts while he was on pre-trial release," U.S. Marshal Ralph Sozio said in a statement.
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McFarland was on pretrial release from July 1, 2017 until June 12, 2018 prior to being tried for fraud in connection with the Fyre Festival. During this time he operated yet another fraud, selling non-existent tickets to events such as the Met Gala through his company NYC VIP Access.
He ultimately pled guilty to fraud and making false statements to law enforcement, and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. McFarland is due for release in 2023.
Several apparent Fyre Festival attendees listed their merch on eBay not long after the event itself, attempting to sell $300 sweatshirts and $71 artist passes with varying success. Fortunately, if you managed to hold out back then, you may be able to get your official Fyre Festival gear a little cheaper now.
The Fyre Festival auction is currently underway online at Gaston and Sheehan Auctioneers, and is scheduled to end on Aug. 13.
