A ticketing vendor is suing Fyre Festival organizers for $3.5 million. This is the latest lawsuit to be filed in relation to the failed luxury music festival created by Williams McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. The online ticketing platform, Tablelist, filed a lawsuit in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, Mass. and cites Fyre Media, Inc, Grand Margolia, and Carola Jain of breach of contract and fraud. Also, they are seeking damages since the company had to lay off 40 percent of its staff. Tablelist is accusing the group of convincing them to provide ticketing-processing services for a “fraudulent, highly orchestrated scheme” that was “falsely marketed as an ‘exclusive, luxury’ event.” Tablelist claims that the Fyre Festival organizers assured them that the event was “well-organized and well-funded, pointing to high-profile celebrity endorsements, headlining musical acts, significant sponsorship deals, and held a competitive bid process for the ticketing vendor role.” More than $3.5 million in concert tickets and VIP experiences were sold. All of the proceeds were handed over to the Fyre Festival organizers, while Tablelist kept 10 percent in escrow for any transaction fees, chargebacks and ticket refunds. Once the event was canceled and festival goers demanded refunds, Tablelist demanded that Fyre Media return the millions from the tickets sold. Unfortunately, Fyre Media never “remitted a penny to Tablelist to pass along to consumers.” The escrow funds set aside isn’t enough to refund to the ticket purchasers. Tablelist CEO Julian Jung stated “”Like so many other companies, investors and endorsers, Tablelist – and our customers – are victims of a fraud,” and is ready for his company’s day of justice in court. Photo credit: Jake Strang/AP
