Fyre Festival Victim Shares Laughable Settlement Cheque She Waited Five Years To Get

A reality TV star has shared the unbelievable amount of compensation she received after attending the disastrous Fyre Festival in 2017.

Former Real World cast member Violetta Milerman was one of 277 ticket-holders to be duped by the festival organised by Billy McFarland after they were promised a luxury two-weekend Bahamas getaway.

The festival became the source of numerous jokes and memes – as well as lawsuits and damning documentaries – after it emerged that attendees were met with zero musical acts, measly food and disaster relief tents to sleep in.

Tickets for the event set customers back between $1,200 and $12,000, and in the wake of the disaster a number of lawsuits were filed on behalf of those who had fallen victim to its tragic reality.

In April 2021, a settlement reached in a US federal court concluded attendees could have received up to $7,220 each, however the payout was slashed to just $281 (£204) as lawyers struggled to get back money from those who had promoted the festival.

McFarland is said to have been able to gather more than $26 million from sponsors and attendees, but documents submitted by the festival's bankruptcy trustee revealed that just $1.4 million had been recouped. Take away the cost of accountants and legal fees, and the ticket holders were left with $78,000 to share between them.

Last week, Milerman took to Twitter to share a picture of the cheque she had waited so long to receive, which totalled $200.72. Alongside the image, she wrote: 'This might be gone by the weekend. But the trauma will last me a lifetime.'

A caption added: 'No Ragrets…. Right?'

Bankruptcy trustee Gregory Messer explained last year that recouping the money had been 'extraordinarily difficult and challenging given the lack of books and records, that any physical assets that could have been liquidated were already seized by federal prosecutors'.

Per BBC News, Messer added that McFarland's imprisonment added further complications. The festival organiser was convicted on fraud charges in 2018 before being sentenced to six years in prison. 

Fyre Festival became the subject of two documentaries after news of the awful conditions emerged, with blogger Seth Crossno telling Radio 1 Newsbeat there were 'still workers, pick-up trucks and 18-wheelers everywhere' when he and three friends arrived after spending $45,000 (£34,785) on tickets, travel and luxury accommodation.

The event was held on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas, where locals had been hired to help construct the festival. As well as scamming attendees, McFarland reportedly failed to pay workers for their time or resources.

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Topics: Celebrity, Viral, Twitter, Life, US News

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.