For years, people have asked one question: Where is Ja? Finally, we know the answer: On Twitter and pointing his finger.
Following reports that his luxury music festival ― named the Fyre Festival and located on a “remote and private” island in the Bahamas ― had essentially descended into “Lord of the Flies”-like chaos, the hip-hop star released a statement over Twitter on Friday afternoon that somehow simultaneously took blame and assigned it elsewhere.
“We are working right now on getting everyone of the island SAFE that is my immediate concern...,” he wrote. “I will make a statement soon I’m heartbroken at this moment my partners and I wanted this to be an amazing event it was NOT A SCAM as everyone is reporting I don’t know how everything went so left but I’m working to make it right by making sure everyone is refunded... I truly apologize as this is NOT MY FAULT... but I’m taking responsibility I’m deeply sorry to everyone who was inconvenienced by this...”
Festival organizers advertised the festival as a sort of luxury getaway on an island once belonging to former drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. They enlisted models like Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski to help promote the event. Bands like Major Lazer and Migos were scheduled to perform. And most important, tickets reportedly ran anywhere from $5,000 to $250,000.
The reality did not quite fit the promotional images. Feral dogs were seen on the premises. At least some of the housing provided appeared to be “disaster relief tents,” many of which were not put together. The meals were things like slices of cheese on cold bread. Blink 182 backed out because the band was “not confident that we would have what we need to give you the quality of performance we always give you fans.”
“So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organization. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city,” one attendee wrote on Twitter.
We could explain more, but the situation is still kind of chaotic, so why don’t you just look at these photos instead?
By the way, a statement on the Fyre Festival webpage now reads:
Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience on the Islands of the Exumas.
Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests. At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get everyone off of Great Exuma and home safely as quickly as we can. We ask that guests currently on-island do not make their own arrangements to get to the airport as we are coordinating those plans. We are working to place everyone on complimentary charters back to Miami today; this process has commenced and the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority.
The festival is being postponed until we can further assess if and when we are able to create the high- quality experience we envisioned.
We ask for everyone’s patience and cooperation during this difficult time as we work as quickly and safely as we can to remedy this unforeseeable situation. We will continue to provide regular updates via email to our guests and via our official social media channels as they become available.
-The Fyre Festival Team
