FIRST ON FOX – The former social media designer for Fyre Festival says social media is fueling the idolization of scammers and their wild ideas — Fyre Festival 2 being no exception.
Oren Aks spoke with Fox News Digital after the apparent postponement of Fyre Festival 2, a do-over version of the original Fyre Festival, which failed in 2017 after promising attendees who paid thousands for tickets a luxurious music festival set in the Bahamas and delivering a ramshackle campsite on the island instead.
Fyre Festival 2 was set to take place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, between May 30 and June 2, but one of its partners, ticketing company SoldOut.com, confirmed to Fox News Digital last week that the event had been postponed and it was refunding tickets for the event.
“I think the bigger question here is … why is this so fascinating to people to keep going at it? Again, it’s just because it’s a big meme. So, because it is a meme, it keeps memeing, and we’re just reinventing the meme,” Aks said. “So, I get that in terms of like pop culture.”
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Fyre Festival attendees de-board a small plane that reads “Fyre Festival” on its side in the Bahamas in 2017. (Stephanie Farr)
In other words, people are treating Fyre Festival 2 like a big inside joke. The first festival’s failure inspired documentaries on Hulu and Netflix, and some want to be in on the chaos if it fails a second time, Aks explained.
Others believe Fyre Festival’s creator, 33-year-old Billy McFarland, is a visionary and want to give him a second chance after he was convicted and sentenced to serve several years in prison for fraud following the 2017 event.
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William ‘Billy’ McFarland, organizer of the Fyre Festival, exits the U.S. Federal Court in Manhattan following his presentment on wire fraud charges in New York City, U.S., July 1, 2017. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
“For me, the worldview of this story doesn’t make sense,” Aks said. “I’ve heard from having conversations with people throughout the years that … he is just a hardworking entrepreneur and that this is just to create opportunity to have fun in the making and they can’t wait for it to be done right. So … if you’re going out there for that, good luck. If you are going for having a good laugh, it must be nice that you have money to travel for a good laugh.”
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The original Fyre Festival’s 2017 failure landed Billy McFarland behind bars. (Stephanie Farr)
He continued: “Either way, I don’t think it’s happening anymore from what I read last week, but if it does, it just won’t be relevant again. I don’t know if you noticed, even Coachella this year was … nobody was posting.”
“These things just don’t matter anymore.”
When Aks joined the Fyre Festival team eight years ago, he worked for Jerry Media, which handled graphic design and social media strategy for the original festival. Aks said he was excited about the project because he had a background working in the music industry and was passionate about music festivals.
There was “writing on the wall” before the festival began that should have indicated the event would be a disaster, from credit cards bouncing to Fyre Festival’s partners being left out of the loop on logistical planning, Aks said.
Fyre Festival attendees who paid thousands for tickets in 2017 were promised big-name music acts like Blink 182 that never played at the event. (Stephanie Farr)
He recalled the moment he knew things were going south.
“When we arrived, the point where it really hit me was actually … going over this hill and kind of descending into the valley where the beach area where the festival was taking place and seeing the tents and the actual media center stage area and … nothing was there,” he said. “…In my brain, the logistics didn’t work out, but I just assumed that’s just not my territory. I’m the graphic designer, I’m sure they’ve got like an architect or … someone dealing with that. But then I saw the FEMA or the UN-style tents, and that was the moment it all hit.”
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Oren Aks said it “hit him” that Fyre Festival was a failure in 2017 when he arrived in the Bahamas and saw rows of FEMA-style tents where guests were promised luxury villas. (Stephanie Farr)
In the age of social media, Aks said, the public makes icons out of scammers like Anna Delvey and even murder suspects like Luigi Mangione.
“We look at them like they’re iconic, like, ‘Oh what’s she wearing to court?’ And … at a certain point, you’re just more obsessed with them as this narrative that you’ve built rather than who they actually are. … If you met Billy, you wouldn’t be impressed,” Aks said.
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Anna Delvey leaves her New York City apartment in the East Village for a possible court date on Oct. 11, 2022. (splash / SplashNews.com)
Aks added that the public, especially the American public, does not talk about the success stories of millionaire and billionaire business moguls in the same way the public discusses scammers and “money grubbers,” particularly on social media.
“We glorify the bad, the scammy, the evil, and we look at those people as heroes.”
“It used to be … this inspirational route you would take in your career to kind of move up a ladder or earn a living and buy a house or something. Now, we vilify those people, and we glorify the bad, the scammy, the evil, and we look at those people as heroes,” Aks said. “Like style icons or freedom fighters, or whatever other imaginary title you want to assign them. And I think it’s, well, it’s very worrying as a societal shift. … Why are we doing this?”
Nearly empty plates of snacks seen beside plastic tables at Fyre Festival in 2017. (Stephanie Farr)
Aks said he believes McFarland hasn’t lived his “15 minutes of fame” yet after the first Fyre Festival, and he is still working to achieve recognition for Fyre Festival 2.
Fyre Festival 2 did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about a postponement, and nothing on the event’s website or social media pages mentioned anything about changed plans.
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Rows of tents seen at Fyre Festival in 2017. (Stephanie Farr)
Earlier this month, Fyre Festival organizers fired back at Playa del Carmen’s statement saying the Mexican city’s government had no knowledge of the event.
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“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,” organizers said.
Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland is in the process of planning a comeback with Fyre Festival 2, which was originally scheduled to take place in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, between May 30 and June 2 but has since been moved to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (iStock)
“All media reports suggesting our team has not been working with the government of PDC are simply inaccurate and based on misinformation,” the statement reads, along with screenshots and photos of “relevant permits, payments, and communications” with Playa del Carmen officials. “FYRE has operated as a good partner with PDC government and has followed the proper processes and procedures to lawfully host an event.”
McFarland also posted a video of a press conference he and his team held in Playa del Carmen on March 28, which included government representatives from the area.
A photo of the sandwiches that were served at Fyre Festival in 2017. (Stephanie Farr)
The statement came in response to Playa del Carmen’s social media post saying that “[i]n response to rumors about a supposed event called ‘Fyre 2,’ we inform you that no event of that name will be held in Playa del Carmen.”
It was the second statement from a government entity denying the festival’s existence since March. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, between those dates, but it recently moved to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, after Isla Mujeres said Fyre Festival organizers had not requested permits in the popular vacation town.
Two women pose as if they are fighting over a box of water at Fyre Festival in 2017. (Stephanie Farr)
Tickets for Fyre Festival 2 start at $1,400 per person for general admission and go up from there. The most expensive ticket sells for more than $1 million and offers private air and yacht travel, luxury villa accommodations and festival access over four days to eight people.
In 2017, Fyre Festival guests arrived in the Bahamas to find bare-bones tents when they were promised luxury accommodations; cheap, boxed meals when they were promised a high-end culinary experience; unclean port-o-potties; and canceled music acts that they paid to see over the course of the festival.
WATCH FYRE FESTIVAL FOUNDER BILLY MCFARLAND SPEAK WITH JESSE WATTERS:
The original Fyre Fest promised music acts including Blink 182, Migos and other artists; celebrity model attendees, including the Hadid sisters and Emily Ratajkowski; luxury accommodations and fine food, with tickets ranging from $1,200 to over $100,000.
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After the festival’s failure, it went viral on social media when Hulu and Netflix published documentaries about the failed beach bash, making the #fyrefraud hashtag go viral at the time.
The festival reached a settlement with 277 ticket holders in 2021, when it was ordered to pay each recipient an award of $7,220.
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