One Fyre Festival worker thinks it’s time for Ja Rule to pay up. Maryann Rolle, the restaurateur who says she went through more than $50,000 of her own savings to feed festival workers and fans stranded on Great Exuma during the April 2017 event, has one request of the co-founder of the doomed music festival.
“I feel from the bottom of his heart he is sorry,” Rolle told TMZ of the rapper after learning he’d apologized to her. “I don’t know if he was aware of the pain and heartbreak I went through.”
She added: “He did apologize, so that in itself speaks volumes. He cares.”
However, Rolle said the “I’m Real” crooner hasn’t donated to her GoFundMe campaign, which went viral after she was featured in the Netflix documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened that debuted earlier this month. Since its creation on January 14, Rolle’s campaign has raised more than $168,000 from well wishers across the globe.
Still, Rolle thinks the Grammy nominee should be among her biggest donors. “If he’s sorry, he should be donating something to me,” she told the outlet. “Sorry is more than a word, it’s an action. I hope he puts his sorry into action.”
Given the money she spent out of her own savings, Rolle would like to see a $100,000 donation from the New York native, which she said she would use to “bless some folks here in the Bahamas.”
However, given that Ja Rule says he was also victimized by festival organizers, included cofounder Billy McFarland, a donation from him might not be in the cards. “I love how ppl watch a doc and think they have all the answers…” the 42-year-old tweeted on January 19, along with a facepalm emoji. “I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make???”
The rapper later told a fan on Twitter, “I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead [sic] astray.”
McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud and using fake documents to attract investors and agreed to forfeit more than $26 million. Additionally, he was charged with selling fraudulent tickets to events such as the Met Gala and Coachella while out on bail. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison in October 2018.
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is now streaming on Netflix.
