Ja Rule on Fyre Festival: ‘I’m Heartbroken at This Moment’
UPDATE: Ja Rule tweeted Sunday, “Relieved to share that all guests are safe and have been sent the form to apply for a refund.” Organizers added, “We’re heartbroken that we let down all the guests who put their faith in us. To our guests and staff—thank you again for your all patience as we navigate our next steps. We owe you an apology. Guests have been sent a form that will provide the necessary information to apply for a refund.”
Ja Rule is “heartbroken” following the disastrous first day of the Fyre Festival, a Bahamas-based luxury music festival that he co-created. The rapper promised to issue refunds to festival-goers. He reiterated that Fyre “was not a scam.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Ja Rule said that his first priority is to ensure that the festival attendees who are still stranded in the Exumas are transported safely off the island.
“We are working right now on getting everyone off the island safely; that is my immediate concern,” the rapper said.
For over a thousand dollars per ticket, the high-end music festival promised acts including Blink-182, G.O.O.D. Music and Disclosure at the all-inclusive resort-like getaway. But when attendees gathered at the festival grounds Thursday, they found the area was a garbage-strewn site severely lacking the many amenities promised with admission.
Blink-182 canceled their headlining performance at both Fyre Festival weekends, and festival-goers who were traveling to the island were informed that, because the fest was already overcapacity, they would not continue on to Fyre. Those who did make it to the festival were greeted by feral dogs, shoddy tents, a lack of security or festival employees and meals consisting of cheese and bread.
The festival was ultimately postponed indefinitely, leaving stunned attendees to find transportation back to the U.S.
“I’m heartbroken at this moment,” Ja Rule told Rolling Stone. “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.”
The rapper promised to make another statement at a later time.