Bella Hadid Addresses Fyre Festival ‘Disaster’ As 25-Year-Old Festival Co-Founder Admits To Being ‘Naive’

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Supermodel Bella Hadid has issued an apology for her involvement in the controversial Fyre Festival that caused hundreds of ticket holders to be stranded in deplorable conditions in the Bahamas this weekend.

According to Hadid, who was prominently featured in promos for the doomed Fyre Festival, she had no idea about “the disaster that was to come” when she agreed to promote the three-day music event. The Fyre Festival was co-founded by singer Ja Rule and tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland, both of whom have since taken responsibility for the fiasco.

Bella Hadid was one of several famous supermodels who participated in photo shoots and promotions for the Fyre Festival. On Saturday, she took to Twitter to apologize to those who were affected by the Fyre Festival nightmare.

“I just wanted to address Fyre Festival… Even though this was not my project what so ever, nor was I informed about the production or process of the festival in any shape or form, I do know that it has always been out of great intent and they truly wanted all of us to have the time of our lives,” Hadid wrote.

“I initially trusted this would be an amazing & memorable experience for all of us, which is why I agreed to do one promotion… not knowing about the disaster that was to come.”

“I feel so sorry and badly because this is something I couldn’t stand by, although of course if I would have known about the outcome, you would have all known too,” she added.

Aside from Bella Hadid, models Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Baldwin, and Kendall Jenner also promoted the Fyre Festival. Ticket holders reportedly spent thousands of dollars to attend what was presented as an extravagant music festival with gourmet food from celebrity chefs and modern, luxurious accommodations in the “remote and private” island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas. Blink-182 was billed as the festival’s closing headliner while artists Major Lazer, Migos, Pusha-T, and Disclosure were also expected to perform. Millennials bought tickets and traveled to the Bahamas hoping to hobnob with models and celebrities.

Instead, festival-goers arrived to shoddy tents, an unfinished event site, underwhelming cheese sandwiches in lieu of the promised gourmet spread, and lack of adequate staffing and facilities. Many of the performers backed out and the Fyre Festival team abruptly canceled the whole event, leaving hundreds of people stranded in the Bahamas.

The dinner that @fyrefestival promised us was catered by Steven Starr is literally bread, cheese, and salad with dressing. #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/I8d0UlSNbd

— Tr3vor (@TrevorDeHaas) April 28, 2017

Ticket holders took to social media to document the failed event and the whole thing quickly became an internet laughingstock. Fyre Fest organizers tried to contain the mess and issued a statement on their website, promising that they were doing their best to get revelers back home as soon as possible.

This sums up Fyre Festival. #fyre #fyrefestival #fyrefest pic.twitter.com/x4xcFBL8Yg

— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017

In an interview with Rolling Stone, McFarland blamed the Fyre Festival failure on a bunch of things, including the weather and inadequate planning. “We thought we were making timeframes that were correct,” he said.

“We were a little naïve in thinking for the first time we could do this ourselves.”

Still, McFarland said that he is planning on bringing back the Fyre Festival next year and that they will begin planning on that event much earlier. He also said that all festival ticket holders will be refunded in full and will be able to attend a May 2018 “make-up date[s]” for free.

Meanwhile, Ja Rule told Rolling Stone that he was “heartbroken” over the fiasco but emphasized that the event “was not a scam.” The recording artist also said that he takes responsibility and is deeply sorry, but stressed that the Fyre Festival disaster was “not [his] fault.”

[Featured Image by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images]