"On May 4, another lawsuit was filed by National Event Services (NES), which provided medical services for the festival and claimed to have suffered $250,000 in damages, alleging breach of contract, fraud, and negligence by the organizers. One attendee who was stuck in Miami reported that the pilot of their airplane had told them to get off so they could turn the plane around for immediate departure, as they were now serving as a rescue aircraft to get attendees off Great Exuma Island.Hadid has acknowledged and apologized for participating in the promotion.Ja Rule posted a note on Twitter that said "it was NOT A SCAM" and "this is NOT MY FAULT".Fyre Festival posted a statement on their website: Atkins. "Let's just do it and be legends, man," one of the organizers is reported to have said.After the Comcast deal fell through, McFarland obtained some temporary financing for Fyre through investor Ezra Birnbaum that required the company repay at least US$500,000 of the loan within 16 days.In order to raise quick cash for the event, and with under two weeks to go before the inaugural event, Fyre informed ticket-holders that the event would now be "cashless (and cardless)," and encouraged attendees to put up thousands of dollars in advance on a digital Fyre Band to cover purchases at the festival, according to one lawsuit. Ja Rule was initially named as a co-defendant, but was later removed from the suit after an undisclosed private agreement with the two attendees' attorney.Ja Rule said in January 2019 that he had also been defrauded by McFarland;In March 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in what the U.S. Justice Department called a scheme to defraud investors, as well as a second count of wire fraud related to a scheme to defraud a ticket vendor. As a result, the rapper was able to evade being roped into a $100 million lawsuit. Somehow Plaintiffs Matthew Herlihy and Anthony Lauriello accused the festival organizers of "false representations, material omissions... negligence, fraud, and violations of consumer protection statutes. "Let me let all you fucking clowns know something it’s all cool wit the Fyre jokes but there ain’t no fucking sucker over here," Rule tweeted at one troll before going on the offensive against another user. The rapper is the new face of Papa Cristo’s Greek Grill in Los Angeles. The 42-year-old performer was an early back of the “luxury” festival that never happened in Great Exuma, Bahamas. He says the company assured him that an email was being prepared, but he was not sure if it was sent.These plans, however, were revoked at the last minute with the decision to go on with the event as planned. In addition to the infractions mentioned in the other lawsuits, this suit alleges unjust enrichment and violation of New York state business law, claiming that the organizers continued to offer VIP upgrades and opportunities to deposit money into the "Fyre Band" payment system after the festival had been canceled.On July 3, 2018, two North Carolina attendees, Seth Crossno and Mark Thompson, were awarded $5 million in damages. A medical-services company and caterer were also hired, but the latter withdrew a few weeks before the festival.In March 2017, Fyre also hired a veteran event producer, Yaron Lavi, who saw that it was impossible to hold the sort of event McFarland and Ja Rule envisioned at the site. About $2 million was uploaded to these bracelets, 40% of which, according to a lawsuit later filed by Birnbaum, was used by McFarland to pay off the short-term loan.Early in the morning of April 27, heavy rain fell on Great Exuma, soaking the open tents and mattresses piled out in the open air for guest arrivals later that day. ""In July, the Court dismissed all Fyre Festival claims against Mr. Atkins," Rule's lawyer, Ryan Hayden Smith, said. Scheduled for two weekends in April and May 2017, the event sold day tickets from While the festival's promotional material kept claiming that the festival would be held on a remote private island that once belonged to drug trafficker On the mainland, 5,000 tickets had been sold, and an air service was hired to charter festival-goers from Miami. We will continue to provide regular updates via email to our guests and via our official social media channels as they become available.Fyre Festival announced that it would offer all attendees a choice between a full refund or VIP tickets to the following year's festival (which was proposed, but never happened).As a result of the festival, McFarland and Ja Rule are the subject of a $100 million lawsuit in the state of California, with Ja Rule later being dismissed from the lawsuit by the Judge in July 2019.A second class action lawsuit against Fyre Media, McFarland, Ja Rule, and the event promoters identified as "A third lawsuit was filed in New York federal court against Ja Rule, McFarland, Fyre Media, and chief marketing officer Grant Margolin.