Ja Rule has shut down any talk that might be circulating about him getting involved with the upcoming sequel to 2017’s disastrous Fyre Festival.
via: Page Six
“I don’t know nothing about it!” the “Always on Time” rapper told People Thursday. “I don’t know nothing about it. I ain’t in it!”
Page Six has reached out to Rule’s rep for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.
The Grammy nominee’s comments come four days after Billy McFarland, who co-founded the disastrous multi-day musical event alongside Rule, announced that he is giving the festival another go.
“? Fyre Festival II is finally happening. Tell me why you should be invited,” the convicted fraudster tweeted Sunday.
? Fyre Festival II is finally happening.
Tell me why you should be invited.
— Billy McFarland (@pyrtbilly) April 10, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, McFarland, who agreed to a forfeiture order of $26 million to reimburse the scammed victims of the inaugural April 2017 event, said that he needed to work in order to cover his debt.
“it’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working,” he wrote. “people aren’t getting paid back if i sit on the couch and watch tv. and because i served my time.”
it’s in the best interest of those I owe for me to be working. people aren’t getting paid back if i sit on the couch and watch tv.
and because i served my time.
— Billy McFarland (@pyrtbilly) April 11, 2023
McFarland, 31, hoodwinked dozens of investors and thousands of festival-goers who paid for tickets to attend what was promoted as a luxury music festival on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.
Attendees were guaranteed an extravagant, all-inclusive experience with gourmet food, luxury accommodations and performances from over 30 artists, including Pusha T, Blink-182, Migos and many more.
However, when guests arrived at Fyre Festival, there was no musical entertainment, and they were met with cold cheese sandwiches to eat and FEMA tents to stay in.
In May 2017, a $100 million class-action lawsuit was filed against McFarland and Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, alleging that the festival was a “get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning.”
The following March, McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges relating to the festival. He pleaded guilty to more fraud charges stemming from a separate ticket-selling scam that July.
The con artist was later sentenced to six years in federal prison, even though prosecutors pushed for him to do 15 years behind bars.
“I’m sorry, I am deeply sorry for my mistakes,” he told Judge Naomi Buchwald in court during his sentencing.
“I betrayed the trust of investors, family and even the court. I come from an incredible family — a loving environment, they [family] tried to teach me the value of family and friends.”
McFarland was released from prison in March 2022 after serving four years of his sentence.
Rule, on the other hand, was never charged in connection to the festival after a judge ruled that the “Mesmerize” rapper had not “known of individual ticket or merchandise sales.”
In 2019, he released a single inspired by the catastrophic event titled “FYRE.”
“The record was made to be FUN,” he exclusively told Page Six at the time. “I’m an ARTIST and artists write through their pain. It’s therapeutic, it’s what keeps us SANE.”
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