Ja Rule and Fyre Festival Organizers Banned From Doing Any More Events in Bahamas
The saga of Ja Rule and the 2017 Fyre Festival continues. Yesterday, it was revealed that Ja and the company behind the festival would be facing a $100 million lawsuit. Today, TMZ reports Ja and other Fyre Festival organizers—including its creator, Billy McFarland—have been banned from hosting an event in the Bahamas ever again.
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism told the celebrity gossip site they were looking into developing a more strict vetting system for future festivals and that they'll be checking in with festival organizers on multiple occasions throughout the planning process.
This year's Fyre festival was promoted by Kendall Jenner advertised as an ultra-swanky island music fest for rich kids. Instead, the conditions at the event ended up being so bad the festival was compared to The Hunger Games. Attendees were left with cheese sandwiches instead of selections from the gourmet cuisine they'd been promised, and it turns out there wasn't even adequate medical care.
Apparently, the ministry didn't get involved with the 2017 Fyre Festival sooner because they couldn't. It was technically a private event, so they could only intervene when the safety of attendees was compromised.
The Ministry of Tourism says the folks behind the festival have taken full responsibility for the chaos, but Ja and McFarland are still prohibited from doing business on the island.
See Reactions to 2017 Fyre Festival Chaos