Connect with us

Published

on

Fyre Festival – the disastrous luxury party that left hundreds stranded in the Bahamas – is getting a second run, with tickets now on sale for $499 (around £391).

The organiser of the event – Billy McFarland – went to prison in the US for fraud following the botched music event which was supposed to take place on the Caribbean island of Exuma over two weekends in April and May 2017.

Billy McFarland was jailed over the festival
Image:
Billy McFarland was jailed over the festival

The failed 2017 event was billed as “an immersive music festival on a remote and private island” with “the best in food, art, music and adventure” and it claimed to be “on the boundaries of the impossible”.

It was co-organised by rapper Ja Rule, who apologised at the time, but insisted it was not his fault, and promoted by influencers including Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid.

Partygoers paid up to $12,000 (£9,200) a head and were promised opulent accommodation and deluxe food.

However, when they arrived, guests were greeted with chaos – a rain-sodden campsite, emergency tents, piles of soggy mattresses and sad looking cheese and salad sandwiches in a takeaway container for dinner.

Guests branded it “a post-apocalyptic nightmare” and compared the event to the Hunger Games.

More on Bahamas

The whole sorry debacle was documented in the 2019 film FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.

The event had more than $26m (£20m) in losses after it was cancelled due to inadequate accommodation, food and water.

Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid and Jasmine Tookes joined the promotional campaign
Image:
Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid and Jasmine Tookes were part of the original promotional campaign

However, McFarland, who was released from jail last year, says he’s rebooting Fyre Festival.

In a video shared on social media, the 31-year-old – who appears to be dressed in a white spa dressing gown – said he devised the plan for a redo during a stint in solitary confinement.

While details on the actual organisation of the event were scarce, he said that after considering holding the festival in the Middle East or South America, he’d decided to bring it “back to the Caribbean”.

He told his 22.6k Instagram followers: “We are targeting Fyre Festival 2 for the end of next year.

“It has been the absolute wildest journey to get here and it really all started during the seven-month stint in solitary confinement.

“I wrote out this 50-page plan of how it would take this overall interest and demand in Fyre, and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen, how I would find the best partners in the world to allow me to be me while executing Fyre’s vision to the highest level.”

He added: “In the meantime, we’ll be doing pop-ups and events across the world. Guys, this is your chance to get in. This is everything I’ve been working towards. Let’s f***ing go.”

The first 100 pre-sale tickets priced at $499 sold out in the first day of sale according to the website. Future tickets, which are yet to be released, will cost between $799 (about £626) and $7,999 (approximately £6,267) according to the pricelist.

In a written statement on his Instagram page following the sale of the first batch of tickets, McFarland said he would be working with “the best logistical and infrastructure partners,” adding, “We look forward to surprising the world alongside our partners as we build Fyre and Fyre Festival II into the island adventure of a lifetime”.

A disclaimer on the website says: “FII date is subject to change. Pre-events and pop-ups to be announced, but FYRE will host a minimum of 4 events prior to FFII.”

McFarland was sentenced to six years in jail in October 2018 by a federal court in Manhattan. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald called him a “serial fraudster”, AP reported at the time.

In March 2022, he was released early – with more than two years of his sentence left – being transferred to a halfway house from a low-security federal prison in Michigan, NBC News reported.

McFarland has already announced plans to make a Broadway musical about Fyre Festival.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kanye West’s Yeezy online shopping platform taken down over swastika T-shirts

Published

on

By

Kanye West's Yeezy online shopping platform taken down over swastika T-shirts

Kanye West’s Yeezy online shopping platform has been taken down after selling T-shirts featuring a swastika.

The rapper, also known as Ye, used a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday to send people to his website to buy the clothing emblazoned with the Nazi symbol – an image often used by the extreme-right.

The ecommerce platform Shopify, which hosts many online shops and businesses, has deactivated his site and his domain name yeez.com is being sold for $98,999 (£79,692).

Shopify said in an emailed statement to Sky News’ sister channel NBC News: “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify.”

West’s representative is yet to respond to a request from NBC for comment.

The white T-shirts featured a black swastika on the front and were the only items for sale on the front page of yeezy.com.

No text or explanation accompanied the item, just the letters “HH-01.” They were available for $20 (£16).

More on Kanye West

Initially, West’s site showed a notice from Shopify which said the store was “unavailable”.

screengrab of yeez.com, Kayne's website which host shopify has taken down after it featured T-shifts featuring a swastika
Image:
yeez.com was taken offline by Shopify, the e-commerce platform which was hosting his shop

But the site now redirects to the registrar GoDaddy, the platform which manages yeez.com, where a page shows the domain name is for sale.

GoDaddy has not yet responded to questions about the sale and whether it was enforced by the company or initiated by West.

Screenshot showing yeez.com domain is for sale on godaddy
https://www.godaddy.com/forsale/yeez.com
Image:
The domain name yeez.com can be bought for $98,999 (£79,692)

The decision to sell the T-shirt triggered widespread criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League (ADF) which posted a statement on X on Monday, describing the shirt sales as further proof of West’s antisemitism.

The organisation, formed to combat anti-Jewish bigotry and discrimination, explained that the swastika was adopted by Hitler and “continues to threaten and instil fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy”.

The ADF also said the T-shirt was labelled on Kanye’s website as ‘HH-01’ – suggesting this was code for “Heil Hitler”.

Read more from Sky News:
Steve Bannon avoids jail after admitting fraud
Ukraine targets fuel used by Russian military
Armie Hammer addresses cannibalism claims

West has in recent days been posting antisemitic messages on X, as well as writing “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi”. His account then had a “sensitive content warning” added to it before he posted a final message.

“I’m logging out of Twitter,” he wrote. “I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent.”

After his account was deactivated on Monday, his spokesperson Milo Yiannopoulos issued an explanation.

“Ye is an intergenerational artist and icon who continues to redefine the limits of creativity and free expression. He has deactivated his X account for the time being,” he said in a statement.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism was joined by Friends star David Schwimmer in calling for Elon Musk to remove West from X over a string of offensive posts.

One of the most successful figures in hop-hip, West built up a fashion brand called Yeezy which began as a collaboration with Adidas. But the German sportswear giant cut ties with him in 2022 over his antisemitic remarks and eventually reached a settlement in October.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Lisa Riley reacts to Peter Kay’s ‘upsetting’ gig jibe

Published

on

By

Lisa Riley reacts to Peter Kay's 'upsetting' gig jibe

Lisa Riley has reacted to reports that Peter Kay likened a heckler to her, insisting she’s “not offended”.

The Bolton comedian was performing his Manchester gig on Saturday night when a woman was removed by security guards after shouting “We love you Peter”. Kay is said to have likened her to Riley as she was being taken out.

The audience member has said she is “annoyed and upset” about the comments.

“To go to a show and feel like you’re having the mick taken out of you because of your weight, I was just a bit shocked,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

“The whole arena was laughing, I think they thought it was part of the show but there was a nastiness to his voice. It was like he was trying to get the crowd against me – it just wasn’t nice, to be honest.”

Riley, 48, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and also fronted You’ve Been Framed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Appearing to respond to her impromptu mention during the show, Riley posted a picture on Instagram on Monday which read: “Keep calm and laugh”. She added the message: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!!!”

She then followed it up on Tuesday with a post on Instagram which said: “Please draw a line under this now. I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine”.

Kay was also understood to have thrown two men out of the same gig after one repeatedly shouted “garlic bread,” which is one of Kay’s catchphrases.

Kay told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he had taken action against hecklers as they were ruining the show for others, and it was “no longer fair” to the other audience members.

In response to his likening of one audience member to Riley, he said in a statement to the show: “I didn’t realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley, I didn’t realise that was an insult”.

One audience member told the Manchester Evening News that Kay had “shouted” at the hecklers for “a good three to five minutes” during the show.

They said the audience was mixed in their reaction: “Some couldn’t believe it and were obviously annoyed and others were laughing, either thinking it was part of the show or going along with it.”

Read more:
Barcelona player denies inappropriately touching rival during match
Mystery over claims of shaved cats

Kay, 51, who has been performing his record-breaking Better Late Than Never Again tour since 2022, recently performed his 100th show at the AO Arena – the same venue the three hecklers were expelled from.

Tickets to watch the show start at £35, but go up to about £350 for top-notch seats.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Kay for comment.

Kay is currently scheduled to perform his tour into spring 2026.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Pilot killed as Motley Crue frontman’s jet crashes at Arizona airport

Published

on

By

Pilot killed as Motley Crue frontman's jet crashes at Arizona airport

A pilot has died after a private jet owned by Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil crashed into another plane at an airport in Arizona.

Neil was not on board at the time of the collision, which happened off the runway at Scottsdale Airport on Monday afternoon.

Neil’s girlfriend Rain Andreani and her friend suffered injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.

They were taken to hospital with the jet’s co-pilot, who was also injured.

Emergency responders work on Vince Neil's plane after the collision. Pic: AP
Image:
Emergency responders work on Vince Neil’s plane after the collision. Pic: AP

“While details are still emerging, our hearts go out to the families of both the pilot who lost his life and the passengers who suffered injuries,” Motley Crue said in a statement.

“Motley Crue will announce a way to help support the family of the deceased pilot – stand by for an announcement very soon”.

Rain Andreani broke five ribs in the crash and the dogs the women were travelling with survived, TMZ reports.

More from US

Read more from Sky News:
Teacher admits stabbing girl, 7, to death
Nationwide power outage blamed on monkey
Dozens of unexploded WW2 bombs found in playpark

Firefighters work around the site of a crashed Learjet at Scottsdale Airport after it collided with a parked plane Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Image:
Pic: AP

Neil’s jet was arriving from Austin, Texas, when one of its two sets of landing gears failed.

The Learjet veered off the runway after landing and crashed into a Gulfstream 200 business jet.

Neil’s lawyer said the singer is “grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today”.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident was under investigation.

Motley Crue enjoyed major success throughout the 1980s, selling more than 100 million records.

Vince Neil fronted the rock band from their formation in 1981 until he left in 1992.

He later reunited with the band in 1996 and fronted them until they retired in 2015, and again from the band’s 2018 reunion onwards.

Continue Reading

Trending