With the Fyre Festival fiasco behind him, time served, and Fyre Festival II’s failure to materialize despite advance ticket sales, the event’s founder Billy McFarland sold the brand on eBay.
Featured VideoFyre Fest name sells on eBay
NBC News first reported the Fyre brand, including its IP, brand trademarks, and social media assets, sold on eBay on Tuesday for $245,300. 42 bidders places 175 bids during the week-long auction.
AdvertisementMcFarland isn’t exactly happy with the bidding. “Damn. This sucks, it’s so low,” McFarland said on a livestream of the IP auction.
The low six-figure sale price is a far cry from McFarland’s purported seven-figure deal to sell the fest that fell through earlier this month. The buyer is still unknown, but McFarland laughed and mentioned, “It’s funny,” on the stream.
Fyre Fest is no stranger to eBay—or the internet
This isn’t the first time losses were recouped following the disastrous event.
AdvertisementAttendees fresh off the island put Fyre Festival memorabilia up for sale on eBay in May 2017. Items for sale included branded hats, hoodies, the fest’s unused complimentary phone chargers, and discarded festival wristbands.
In July and August 2020, the U.S. Federal government auctioned off festival merchandise seized from the event’s founder.
Fyre Festival took place in April and May 2017 on a private island in the Bahamas. Promoted by celebrities as an exclusive music festival with the potential to innovate the entertainment industry, 5,000 attendees encountered inadequate accommodation and infrastructure upon arrival. Guests were housed in disaster relief tents and served cheese sandwiches.
Event organizer McFarland spent nearly four years in prison on wire fraud charges for misrepresenting Fyre Festival to investors and ticker-holders.
AdvertisementReddit users had no sympathy for McFarland
“This fucking grifter doesn’t deserve a single cent,” says one Redditor, while another alleges that the $245K will go to defrauded investors.
“This will go towards paying for that. Everything he does in life will go towards paying that. He’s not just keeping this money.”
AdvertisementConfused social media users ask, “This bitch still scammin?”
On X, user reactions were harsh. @B_Jones2009 says, “Lmao 🤣why would anyone wanna buy a brand that is known for being a huge scam, let alone pay a quarter of a million?”
“I really couldn’t imagine someone spending this kind of money on something notoriously known for being a giant scam,” adds @normalfnguy.
@ddragos3118 asks, “This bitch still scammin’?”
AdvertisementMeanwhile, on TikTok user @jfufj607 summarizes the whole ordeal nicely, saying, “When you’re rich enough, you only fail upwards.”
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