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Fyre Festival Organizers Hit With Another Lawsuit for Paying Celebs to Promote the Event: Report

Fyre Festival organizers have been hit with another class-action lawsuit after canceling the disastrous Bahamas concert last weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cofounders Ja Rule and and Billy McFarland are being accused of duping people into buying tickets by having social media influencers promote the festival without disclosing that they were paid by the company. 

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As previously reported, thousands of festivalgoers were expected to attend the two-weekend music festival, which cost anywhere from $1,000 to $125,000 for ticket packages. Guests were promised private charter flights to the island, luxury accommodations, gourmet meals and performances by musical acts including Blink 182, Migos and Major Lazer. However, when attendees arrived, they found they would be sleeping in disaster-relief tents and eating cheese sandwiches. Fyre Festival decided to cancel the event and evacuate everyone from the island after people started to panic.

Personal injury lawyer John Girardi filed the new lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of three women who attended the festival. The documents claim the failed music festival paid more than 400 celebrities and social media influencers to promote the event, and that they ignored Federal Trade Commission regulations, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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 Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and dozens of other models advertised Fyre Festival on their social media accounts. The lawsuit claims that the celebs’ campaigns skirted FTC rules that require all ads be clearly identified as such. “Social media ‘influencers’ made no attempt to disclose to consumer that they were being compensated for promoting the Fyre Festival,” the documents say, per THR.

The lawsuit further alleges that the island was in “horrific” condition when guests touched down in the Grand Exumas. “As Plaintiffs began to grasp the dire nature of the situation, upon witnessing the complete lack of infrastructure necessary to host such an event, a panic enveloped the crowd,” the documents say, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Plaintiffs were stuck on the island, with no way off.”

The complaint seeks to ban the defendants from “similar conduct,” which could stop Ja Rule and McFarland’s plan to host Fyre Festival again in 2018. Girardi’s lawsuit, which is open to anyone who purchased tickets for Fyre, also seeks unspecified damages. 

Related: Stars at Court

Fyre Festival organizers are also facing a $100 million lawsuit that alleges fraud, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, celebrity trial lawyer Mark Geragos filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Daniel Jung, and claimed that “the festival’s lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation.”

Organizers issued a length apology on April 29, saying, “This is an unacceptable guest experience and the Fyre team takes responsibility for the issues that occurred. Everyone was very concerned for our guests. They needed a place to sleep and everyone did their absolute best to rebuild. We took everyone to the beach and built as many tents and beds as fast as possible, but as more guests arrived, we were simply in over our heads.”

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