Ja Rule still thinks Fyre Festival was an 'amazing idea'
Somebody needs to explain to Ja Rule the difference between a good idea and a bad one.
The rapper spoke about the epic disaster that was the Fyre Festival in an interview on The Breakfast Club and maintained that the music event — that left concertgoers ripped off, employees unpaid and founder Billy McFarland in prison — was "an amazing idea."
Ja Rule got a whole lotta ideas for a new Festival. Which one do you think he should go with? Full Interview: https://t.co/jX3YZFsNxz pic.twitter.com/KCmYx55zeT
— Power 105.1 (@Power1051) June 5, 2019
"Here's the real s***," the "Livin' It Up" singer — who was also a co-founder of the event — said. "The Fyre Festival was an amazing idea. Let's not act like every f***ing body wasn't coming to the Fyre Festival."
While the 43-year-old performer admitted that "it was f***ing done wrong" and
"organized bad," he said "the idea of it was dope, the marketing was dope, everything was done very right on that end."
![Ja Rule (Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YelCMz7NHMYNe.I_OLpFQA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY3OQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/tyzZKQr0PZSpJUVR.uCV_w--~B/aD0xMTI3O3c9MTU5MzthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5cf829102100004011e6a9df.jpeg)
He added, "The execution was extremely bad, man."
And while he admitted the end result was “extremely bad,” Ja said, "I'm getting calls from the biggest motherf***ing n****s who do festivals in the world. ... Sure, I would like to do another festival and do it right because that's what I intended to do in the first motherf***ing place.”
Hands up if you would go.
![(GIF: via Giphy)](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/QYUqP.Qf1vY5eZ0Pf27fZw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU5NA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5cf82f89240000280f858d92.gif)
Ja went on to connect the negative attention Fyre Festival received to race. He said that there are shootings at other music festivals — specifically pointing to Rolling Loud, the largest hip-hop festival in the world, where people were killed — yet people keep talking about Fyre.
“It feels like when it’s black people being f**ing ostracized and f***ed over, it don’t mean nothing,” he went on to say. “But white kids that didn’t get their tents that they f***ing were promised and [still] went on and partied in Miami or the Bahamas, they made two documentaries and tried to make me the black eye of festivals.”
He said Fyre wasn’t “life or death. Money can be replaced.”
As for his relationship with McFarland, Ja (real name: Jeffrey Atkins) said he hasn't had any conversations with him. "I'm mad at Billy," he said. "He lied to me, man. He lied to me in a lot of ways."
Reaction to Ja’s interview have been ... something.
I guess Ja Rule never watched the Fyre Fest documentary https://t.co/qC84U6y2Us
— Jazmin Cunha (@JazminCunha) June 5, 2019
Ja Rule a goddamn fool if he think anyone would buy tix to another festival he is part of.
— Bryce (@WhyNotBRich) June 5, 2019
I felt like the worst part was all the hard working people not getting paid and seeing the lady cry on the documentary about losing her life savings. Ja Rule is a bum.
— GB (@GBilly5) June 5, 2019
And why isn’t #JaRule in jail for fraud?
— Danni🏳??🌈 (@thewitchywillow) June 5, 2019
Ja Rule:
Where else could you get a better baloney sandwich for the price?— Victor Steele (@BlackHannibal) June 5, 2019
@Ruleyork My dude.... It’s the difference between having great ideas and actually executing with thoughtfulness and integrity. Fyre Fest was the epitome of terrible execution. I’m talking “dumpster fire full of human feces” terrible execution. Just apologize. #JaRule #FyreFest
— Jason (@007willreturn) June 5, 2019
Ja rule trying to have another festival 😂😂
— Shaquille Evans (@shaq__10) June 5, 2019
The "luxury music festival" was supposed to take place in 2017 on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma but it went to hell in a handbasket. Initial noise surrounding the event had an amazing response — thanks in part to social media influencers (including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Baldwin) promoting it for paychecks. However, the event turned out not to have any of the promised luxury accommodations or, ya know, food.
McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison on one count of wire fraud to defraud investors and ticket holders and a second count of defrauding a ticket vendor while on bail. The organizers became the subject of many lawsuits and some unflattering documentaries.
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