Weeks before Fyre Festival II was set to begin in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, founder Billy McFarland announced that it has been postponed indefinitely until organizers can determine a new location.

Has Fyre Festival gone up in flames—again?

Well, less than two months before the follow-up to Billy McFarland’s infamous 2017 music festival was set to begin in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a sudden statement announcing the event’s postponement popped up on its website, leaving fans confused.

The festival’s promoter—who served four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud surrounding the inaugural festival in 2017—later confirmed to NBC News that the date is, as of now, dependent on location.

“FYRE 2 Festival is postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date in the future,” read a statement to ticketholders posted to the event’s website, which was later updated to state that tickets were “currently not available.”

“FYRE Festival 2 is still on,” organizers wrote in a following statement. “We are vetting new locations and will announce our host destination soon. Our priorities remain unchanged: delivering an unforgettable, safe, and transparent experience.”

As for why Fyre Festival might have had such a sudden change of plans? Earlier this month, city officials in Playa del Carmen denied issuing a permit for the return of McFarland’s disastrous music festival.

“Regarding the information that has begun to circulate about a supposed event called ‘Fyre 2,’” the Playa del Carmen City Hall wrote in a statement on Facebook earlier this month, as translated from Spanish, “the municipal government of Playa del Carmen informs that no event of that name will be held in our city.”

But two days later, McFarland countered the claims, insisting that he and his fellow organizers had been cooperating with the city to organize the festival—which was set to take place May 30 to June 2—for weeks.

“FYRE has been working directly with the government of Playa del Carmen (PDC) and their officials since March 5, 2025 to ensure a safe and successful event,” the 33-year-old wrote on Instagram April 4. “All media reports suggesting our team has not been working with the government of PDC are simply inaccurate and based on misinformation.”

And while the founder is steadfast in his attempts to revive the music event, officials may be hesitant because of the controversies that surrounded the 2017 debacle.

Aside from fans being disappointed by the lack of previously promised luxury experiences upon arrival—instead of chef-cooked meals and a lavish escape, attendees were met with food shortages, robberies and sub-par accommodations—McFarland later admitted, per ABC News, to using fake documents to attract investors, making the festival itself fraudulent.

Still, after his 2022 release from prison, McFarland was confident that he could use the notoriety he gained the first time to create an unforgettable experience this time around.

“We have the chance to embrace this storm and really steer our ship into all the chaos that has happened,” McFarland told NBC News in September, “and if it’s done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry.”

For more details surrounding the 2017 Fyre Festival fiasco, keep reading.

(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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Billy McFarland

McFarland began his six-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of defrauding investors out of $26 million in November 2018. (He also pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud, including one for NYC VIP Access, the bogus ticketing scheme he created while out on bail.)

After his sentencing, McFarland issued an apology to People.

“I am incredibly sorry for my collective actions and will right the wrongs I have delivered to my family, friends, partners, associates and, you, the general public,” he said. “I’ve always sought—and dreamed—to accomplish incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good, but I made many wrong and immature decisions along the way and I caused agony. As a result, I’ve lived every day in prison with pain, and I will continue to do so until I am able to make up for some of this harm through work and actions that society finds respectable.”

In 2022, McFarland was given an early release to a halfway house and announced plans to stage a new event dubbed “Fyre Festival II” shortly thereafter. Organizers say the new event will take place in May 30-June 2, 2025.

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Ja Rule

The rapper didn’t participate in either documentary about the scandal, but was heavily featured in both as he was Fyre’s co-founder, working closely with McFarland.

While McFarland went to prison, Ja Rule remained in the clear and defended himself on social media after the documentaries went viral.

“I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make???” he tweeted. He also wrote, “I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!”

Still, Ja Rule was the subject of multiple lawsuits because of his ties to Fyre.

Since the demise of Fyre, Ja Rule has since started a new venture, an app called ICONN, a “celebrity entertainment book & concierge  service.” Sound familiar?

“It’s very different, but it’s similar,” Ja Rule admitted in a clip from his interview on a show called Drink Champs in the Hulu doc of the comparison of ICONN to Fyre.

He declined to participate in either documentary.

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Andy King

“I just don’t want to necessarily be known as the Blow Job King of the world.” Talk about talking #friendshipgoals to a whole new level.

The breakout moment from Netflix’s documentary? When the seasoned event producer admitted he was willing to perform oral sex on a customs officer in order to gain access to water for the festival at McFarland’s request.

And in a video posted by Netflix, King admitted he was “completely blown away” (no pun intended, we presume) by the response to the documentary. “I am now a noun, a verb, an adjective…it’s mind-blogging.”

King was known as “the Billy whisperer” as he was McFarland’s mentor, and admitted to the L.A. Times he didn’t cut ties with his protégé.

“No, I’m not done with him. I know—I’m Uncle Whackjob,” he said. “But I grew up in New Jersey, he grew up in New Jersey. We come from a preppy background. Half my friends have sons his age. I didn’t have somebody to mentor me at that age. He’s not a horrible guy. He has hurt a lot of people. Will I probably go visit him someday? Yeah, I will probably. And maybe that’s the closure I need.”

King continued working as an event producer through his company, Inward Point. He also helped start a GoFundMe to help pay back all of the local Bahamian workers who were not compensated for their tireless efforts to help put the festival together.

Maryanne Rolle

Netflix’s doc introduced viewers to the plight of Rolle, the caterer at the Exuma Point Resort in the Bahamas who lost her entire life savings in order to feed the staff of the festival. Viewers immediately sympathized with her, along with the rest of the locals who were taken advantage of by the Fyre Festival team.

Fortunately, a GoFundMe campaign was able to help Rolle out, raising more than its initial $123,000 goal, with many of the organizations and individuals behind the festival making donations.

But all the attention was hard for Maryanne, as her husband Elvis Rolle, who worked alonside his wife at the hotel, revealed in an interview that she fell ill due to stress. “She can’t cope with it all,” he told The National. “I hope she feels better soon.”

But of the overwhelming response to the GoFundMe campaign, he said, “It means everything, it means we get something back from everything we put in. It is like God is watching over us.”

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Anastasia Eremenko

Eremenko is McFarland’s girlfriend who appeared in the Hulu documentary, revealing the letter McFarland wrote her from jail.

The Russian model, who has shot campaigns for Balmain and Guess, met McFarland after the Fyre Festival debacle, calling it “destiny.”

In 2024, McFarland revealed he and Eremenko “broke up for a little bit” during an interview on Bethenny Frankel‘s Just B podcast, but said they later reconciled.

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Mick Purzycki

The Jerry Media CEO took part on and off screen in the Netflix documentary, appearing on camera to explain his company’s part in the festival’s promotional strategy on social media.

“We were responsible for their social media designs and helping with marketing, pre-launch,” Purzycki, the son of the mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, explained to Town Square Delaware. “We were one of six New York marketing agencies working together. One of the agencies did a great job: the event sold out. Where the festival failed was on the island.”

According to the GoFundMe page, the company donated $20,000 to Rolle’s campaign, with the site’s founder Elliot Tebele donating an addition $20,000.

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Oren Aks

The former Jerry Media employee was the only person from the company to participate in Hulu’s documentary, much to his former employer’s chagrin. (“Well, f–k you guys,” Aks said when Jerry Media said he “misrepresented himself” in a written statement provided to the filmmakers.)

Since taking on the role of whistleblower, the graphic designer told Page Six that “it took me about a year to come to terms with what happened. I was under the radar for like a year.” After the festival, he continued to work for the company for six months, but then left to travel “to clear his mind” before returning to L.A. to start his own social media marketing agency.

But by the end of 2018, he moved abroad permanently.  “Originally people were just like reaching out to me all the time and I was just like, ‘I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to be living it. I just don’t care,’” he told Page Six.

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Justin Liao

One of the festival attendees who was the subject of many tweets was Liao, who admitted to stealing beds and peeing on mattresses on the first night of the festival.

He addressed his actions on Instagram after the documentary’s release, writing, “People are upset with me, and I understand why – I definitely didn’t come across well in the film given the way it was cut.”

He then proceeded to give “background” on why he and his friends did this, claiming the tents were empty anyway.

“People spread rumors about locals wielding machetes, tents and stands being set on fire, and rabid dogs roaming the site (all of which was later revealed to be false),” he wrote. “On film, I was laughing when telling the story, but in reality, at Fyre, we were panicked. What I was laughing about on film was the fact the absurdity of the whole situation in retrospect. @chris_smith knows this 🙂 i was laughing the entire hours and a half I was being interviewed in recalling the pandemonium and ridiculous things everyone was doing.”

He then posted a link to Rolle’s GoFundMe campaign in his bio. He went on to be the head of business development for Pulse Lab and BlockMedx, and was also a film producer in conjunction with Vice Media, according to his Linkedin. (Vice Media produced the Netflix doc.)

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