Ja Rule is insisting that the chaotic Fyre Festival debacle is not his fault in an apology issued after reports surfaced this weekend of a festival falling apart at the seams, with promised “luxury” accommodations boiling down to tents used by FEMA and plastic-boxed lunches made up of bread and cheese.
“We are working right now on getting everyone of the island SAFE that is my immediate concern,” he wrote online, adding, “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…”
According to new reports, the festival was having problems from the very beginning, as a talent producer explained.
— Paying guests outraged after ‘lavish’ Ja Rule festival turns into a bust —
“When we arrived, my initial reaction was ‘huh’,” wrote Chloe Gordon in New York Magazine. “This was not a model-filled private cay that was owned by Pablo Escobar. This was a development lot covered in gravel with a few tractors scattered around.”
“We were standing on an empty gravel pit and no one had any idea how we were going to build a festival village from scratch.”
Ja Rule’s co-organizer Billy McFarland, who was accused of ditching stranded festival-goers to party on a yacht, said that Friday was “the toughest day of my life” and admitted that the plans for the festival were overly “ambitious.”
“We were a little naïve in thinking for the first time we could do this ourselves. Next year, we will definitely start earlier,” he admitted.
A statement on the Fyre Festival’s website 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.”
The Bahamian Ministry of Tourism, which is reportedly worried about taking a hit with reports of looting, shooting, and a total lack of food and safety despite not being involved in the festival, is trying to help get stranded festival-goers off the island.
“We are at the site. We are feeding those at the airport. We are assisting with transporting,” the ministry told PageSix.
They also released a statement saying: “We are extremely disappointed in the way the events unfolded yesterday … We offer a heartfelt apology to everyone … Hundreds of visitors to Exuma were met with total disorganization and chaos … The event organizers assured us that all measures were taken to ensure a safe and successful event but clearly, they did not have the capacity.”
— Ja Rule (@Ruleyork) April 28, 2017
@tamerra_nikol Um yeah he was definitely in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/kpjaLWEOP0
— Stephanie Griffin (@stephapelvis) April 28, 2017
