Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and other models who appeared in the viral Fyre Festival ad could be forced to reveal how much they got paid to promote it
- The top models and influencers who promoted Fyre Festival could be forced to reveal the details of what they were paid to do so.
- A court-appointed liquidation trustee in the Fyre Media case has asked the judge to submit a round of subpoenas to Kendall Jenner and agencies IMG Models and DNA Model Management, which represent Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Emily Ratajkowski.
Fyre Festival is coming back to bite the top models and influencers who promoted it.
On Friday, a court-appointed liquidation trustee in the Fyre Media case filed a request for the judge to submit a round of subpoenas for management agencies representing top models and force them to reveal how much money they were paid by Billy McFarland and his media company to promote Fyre Festival. Billboard was first to report on the filing.
McFarland, the 27-year-old founder of Fyre Media, the company behind the festival, was sentenced to six years in prison in October after pleading guilty to defrauding investors out of more than $27.4 million.
According to the court document, IMG Models and DNA Model Management, which represent Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Emily Ratajkowski, were paid as much as $1.5 million for their services. These models appeared in the Fyre Festival promotional video, frolicking on yachts in the Bahamas.
Kendall Jenner may also be subpoenaed in regards to the $275,000 payment she received, which was reportedly for one Instagram post. Jenner has since deleted this post.
Trustee Gregory Messer is requesting that the judge issue a subpoena to other management agencies, musicians, and suppliers who worked on Fyre Festival. In total, these parties received nearly $5.3 million from Fyre Media, the filing states.
Fyre Festival was advertised as an exclusive music festival that would take place on Great Exuma in the Bahamas over two weekends in April and May 2017. Tickets cost between $1,200 and $100,000.
Guests were told they would fly in from Miami on private jets, sleep in luxury accommodations, and eat gourmet food. The reality was very different - guests were left stranded with half-built huts to sleep in and cold cheese sandwiches to eat.
Fyre Festival "spent tremendous amounts of time and borrowed money promoting the Festival through YouTube videos and social media promotions featuring famous celebrities. As a result of this advertising and promotional blitz, thousands of people purchased tickets to the Festival," the court filing said.
Watch the full promotional video for Fyre Festival here: