Ja Rule Legally Cleared in $100M USD Fyre Festival Lawsuit
The artist also sits down with ‘Forbes’ to discuss his upcoming venture, ICONN.
Fyre Festival will forever go down as one of the most disastrous festivals of all time thanks to Ja Rule, fraudster Billy McFarland and a very viral marketing campaign video starring some of the world’s top models. However, as of today, a judge in the Fyre Festival lawsuit has finally cleared Ja Rule’s name for good.
MacFarland — who is currently serving a six-year sentence after pleading guilty for multiple counts of wire fraud and bank fraud — and Ja Rule (born Jeffrey Atkins) were hit with a class-action lawsuit for $100 million USD. Initially, Ja Rule had his name cleared in July, but MacFarland’s law firm of Geragos & Geragos argued in court that Ja knew the festival was destined to fail. Judge Kevin Castel denied the appeal, according to AllHipHop, who received a statement from Ja’s lawyers. It went on to state Ja Rule was not privy to the issues that ultimately led to the festival’s demise, including McFarland’s shady financials.
“In July, the Court dismissed all Fyre Festival claims against Mr. Atkins,” Rule’s lawyer, Ryan Hayden Smith said. “After this loss, plaintiffs’ law firm Geragos & Geragos appealed that decision. Today, the Court denied their appeal. This ruling is nothing short of a total vindication of Mr. Atkins.”
The failed festival took place in 2017 with the average ticket running between $1,500 and $250,000 USD. Artists promoted to headline were members of the Music G.O.O.D family, Major Lazer, Blink-182, Migos, and much more.
The failed “luxury music festival” led to two separate documentaries which aired on Netflix and Hulu, while Fyre Festival merchandise went up for auction with proceeds going towards the victims that were scammed by the festival organizers. Additionally McFarland was ordered to pay an additional $3 million USD in charges along with his jail sentence.
Ja Rule on the other-hand is planning another music festival dubbed “ICONN.” The artist recently sat down with Forbes to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of the influencer market and how he plans to build an authentic brand through his new venture, ICONN. Check out the video interview below.
In similar news, earlier this summer VestiVille became Europe’s very own Fyre Festival.
