Party, down: Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland arrested and charged with wire fraud
The guy behind the the Fyre Festival disaster has been arrested by the feds.
Billy McFarland was hit with federal wire fraud charges after being arrested in New York City.
"As alleged, William McFarland promised a 'life changing' music festival but in actuality delivered a disaster," said acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in a statement Friday night.
"McFarland allegedly presented fake documents to induce investors to put over a million dollars into his company and the fiasco called the Fyre Festival. Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, McFarland will now have to answer for his crimes."
In case you forgot, the Fyre Festival was McFarland's joint project with rapper Ja Rule that used Instagram influencers to lure rich kids down to an island in the Bahamas where they were met with cheese sandwiches and disaster relief tents.
While at least two investors where allegedly bilked out of $1.2 million dollars, according to the statement, at least the rest of us were treated to a lifetime's worth of schadenfreude.
Topics Music
Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.
