The parties involved reached the agreement on Tuesday in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York’s Southern District. The New York Times reports that final approval of the exact amount is pending a May 13th hearing. Attorneys Ben Meiselas and Mark Geragos of Geragos & Geragos first filed the lawsuit days after the festival in early May 2017.

Expectation vs. Reality

Fyre Festival had been marketed as a luxury boutique gathering on a tropical island with tickets ranging from $1,000-12,000. Attendees arrived at the Bahamian island of Great Exuma on April 27th, 2017 to garbage-strewn grounds and limited shelter; the meals provided to them were also a far cry from the culinary delights promised in promotions. McFarlane and company postponed – and ultimately canceled – the event later that same day.

July 2017 saw McFarland arrested on charges of wire fraud for falsifying documents when courting investors. He is currently serving a six-year sentence after pleading guilty to the charges in 2018. He and rapper Ja Rule, a co-organizer of the gathering and partner of Fyre Media, have faced 12 separate lawsuits amid the aftermath of the the Fyre Festival flop.

“Billy went to jail, ticket holders can get some money back, and some very entertaining documentaries were made,” Meiselas said in an email to the Times. “Now that’s justice.”

Last week, a new podcast called Dumpster Fyre hit the airwaves. It saw McFarland talk about the failed event with host Jordan Harbinger. According to the debut episode’s description, McFarland is “remorseful and seemingly humbled,” and he gave a firsthand account of the outing that led to multiple lawsuits, unpaid performers, stranded attendees, and worldwide criticism.

In a quote obtained by DJ Mag, McFarland’s lawyer, Jason Russo, speculated that the confinement was due to his appearance on the podcast and stressed that his client has been well behaved behind bars.

“We believe the investigation stems from his participation in the podcast and the photographs that were taken and utilized in the trailer, which were all properly taken,” Russo said. “We don’t believe he’s violated any rule or regulation, and there can’t possibly be anything else. He’s been a model prisoner there.”

At the time of writing, McFarland is serving a six-year sentence for wire fraud connected to the event.

You can listen to the now-infamous first episode of the Dumpster Fyre podcast with Billy McFarland and Jordan Harbinger on Apple Podcasts.

The prosecutors on the case have alleged that McFarland falsified important documents and exaggerated his company’s net worth to win over investors. Among other discrepancies, they claim that he boasted 2016 earnings in the millions when, in fact, the total fell closer to $57,000.

Fyre Festival had been the brainchild of McFarland and ’90s rapper Ja Rule, and was supposed to feature performances by electronic music artists like Lee Burridge, Disclosure and Major Lazer in addition to rock, hip-hop and pop artists like Blink 182 and Lil Yachty. When attendees arrived on April 27th, it came to light that tents had not been set up and garbage had been strewn across the festival grounds in the Exhumas Islands.

Ja Rule also faces a number of charges for his part in Fyre Festival’s breakdown, but he has not been arrested as of this writing. Judge Kevin N. Fox of the United States District Court in Manhattan has set the preliminary hearing of Billy McFarland’s case for July 31st.

Source: Dancing Astronaut