Kendall Jenner will be paying a $90,000 settlement for her role in promoting the ill-fated Fyre Festival — an event promoted as an exclusive gathering of top models, celebrities, and musicians on an exotic island but was allegedly planned poorly, offering little of what was promised.
As NBC News reported, the reality television star reached the settlement with a bankruptcy court after promoting the festival on social media and failing to disclose that she had been paid for it. Jenner had been sued by Gregory Messner, who said that Jenner’s social media posts led him to believe that the festival would be attended by famous models and held on an exotic island with “first-class culinary experiences and a luxury atmosphere,” the report noted.
The suit claimed that Jenner misled her followers by making it appear that her brother-in-law, Kanye West, would be performing at the festival.
The event had originally been promoted as an over-the-top version of trendy festivals like Coachella, held in the Bahamas with tickets costing as much as $100,000. But the festival did not deliver what was advertised, and attendees said they arrived to find little food or protection from the elements. The festival became the subject of a pair of documentaries, which focused not only on the event itself but the many people who had a role in organizing and promoting it.
However, Jenner did not get the worst of the fallout. Billy McFarland, the CEO and founder of the Fyre Festival, was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted on two counts of wire fraud. As The Inquisitr reported, McFarland had petitioned to be released from prison amid the coronavirus pandemic, citing concerns regarding his pre-existing health conditions.
Lawyers representing McFarland said that he should be able to serve out his time from home confinement, saying he did not pose a risk to society.
“Mr. McFarland is not a risk to the community nor a threat to public safety. The crime to which he pled guilty for was the non-violent financial crime of wire fraud. However, he is a low risk of recidivism for such financial crimes as he has explained that he has a supportive family that has attested to providing for his basic needs,” the letter from his lawyers reads.
While Jenner faced no criminal charges for her connection to the Fyre Festival, her work in promoting the event did lead to widespread criticism.