Fyre Festival Fraudster Billy McFarland Still Hasn’t Apologized to His Victims as He Concludes His Prison Sentence

Chances are you’ve heard of Fyre Festival. The disastrous music festival landed Billy McFarland in prison and inspired documentaries on Netflix and Hulu. Despite spending four years in jail in the aftermath of this terrible scandal, McFarland still hasn’t apologized to his victims — and he has a rather disappointing explanation.

Billy McFarland’s role in the Fyre Festival disaster

McFarland organized Fyre Festival, a music festival set to take place in 2017 on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma. The event was promoted on social media by big names like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. Thousands of mostly young people bought high-priced event tickets and flights to experience the highly anticipated event.

However, once attendees started arriving, problems arose. Instead of the luxury villas, gourmet meals, and high-end experiences ticket holders were promised, they got FEMA refugee tents and cheese sandwiches. 

Fyre Festival was quickly canceled, and attendees scrambled to find ways back home. Lawsuits ensued, and McFarland pled guilty to two counts of wife fraud: one to defraud investors and ticket holders and another to defraud a ticket vendor while he was on bail. McFarland received a six-year prison sentence.

Billy McFarland was put in solitary confinement twice while in jail

McFarland served four years of his sentence before getting released to serve six months of house arrest. His time in prison wasn’t all smooth sailing, though.

The scam artist had to spend three months in solitary confinement after guards found an unauthorized USB drive in his possession. The drive was discovered where McFarland stored notes for a possible book about his experiences. 

A year later, he returned to solitary confinement after participating in “Dumpster Fyre,” a podcast about the failed music festival. 

Billy McFarland has not apologized to his victims

McFarland was released from prison in 2022 and spent six months in a halfway house under house arrest. He admits he was at fault in some ways, blaming his “immaturity” and pride.

“I deserved my sentence,” he told the New York Times. “I let a lot of people down.” However, he has not apologized to any of his victims. When asked if he had made any attempts to apologize, McFarland replied, “No. What would you say to them if you were me?”

The 30-year-old also refuses to take responsibility for the funds lost by local Bahamian business owners who put money into preparing for the festival. McFarland claimed these alleged losses were overestimated by the media. While one restaurant owner said McFarland owes her $134,000, others say they’ve been paid back. 

“I was treated good. Probably a week I wasn’t paid for,” Ozzy Rolle, one of McFarland’s workers told the NY Times. He even said the disastrous festival was good for the area’s tourism industry: “So many people came after reading about what happened.”

What is Billy McFarland doing today?

While in prison, McFarland started a nonprofit called Project 315, which raised money to cover the costs of phone calls between inmates and their families. He takes credit for the money raised. However, a project to raise money for this purpose was already in the works from Senator Amy Klobuchar and other Democratic senators. 

McFarland owes his victims over $25 million, and any wages he earns will go toward paying them back. He is unsure of what to do next, but thinks he’ll go into something “tech-based.”

“The good thing with tech is that people are so forward-thinking, and they’re more apt at taking risk,” McFarland explained. “If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back. Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship.”