Fyre Fest burned many investors, ticket holders and Bahamian businesses, but the plight of one Exuma Island restaurant owner in particular has opened hearts — and wallets.
Maryann Rolle of the Elvis Rolle restaurant reveals in the new Netflix documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” that she and her staff toiled around the clock dishing 1,000 meals and drinks a day for festival staff running up to the 2017 festival failure, as well as for stranded festival goers during that infamous April weekend. She claims that after Fyre Festival organizers stiffed her, she had to pay her staff $50,000 out of her own life savings.
So the restaurant owners created a GoFundMe page last week to capitalize on the renewed publicity that Fyre Fest is getting in the wake of both Netflix and Hulu releasing documentaries revealing how what was supposed to be a luxury Coachella in the Caribbean fell apart. The online fundraiser met its $123,000 goal in under a week, and has now reached $161,000 and counting as of Tuesday, after viewers including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shared their sympathy for Elvis and Maryann Rolle on Twitter.
If your heart broke like mine did for Maryanne Rolle during Netflix’s Fyre doc her gofundme is herehttps://t.co/g4sM509sGW
— dwayne “the rock” johnson’s johnson (@Skyduck64) January 19, 2019
“There is an old saying that goes ‘bad publicity is better than no publicity’ and I pray that whoever reads this plea is able to assist,” Maryann Rolle explains on the verified fundraising page, adding that, “back in April 2017 I pushed myself to the limit catering no less than a 1,000 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all prepared and delivered by Exuma Point to Coco Plum Beach and Roker’s Point where the main events were scheduled to take place. Organizers would also visit my Exuma Point location to enjoy the prepared meals.
“As I make this plea it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid,” she adds. “I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest. My only resource today is to appeal for help.”
This is the verified GoFundMe to support Maryann Rolle—the Bahamian restaurant owner who lost over $100k in the #FyreFest documentary featured on @Netflix. https://t.co/9qqFymTPuQ
— GoFundMe (@gofundme) January 19, 2019
In the Netflix doc “Fyre,” she cries on camera that, “Personally, I don’t even like to talk about the Fyre Festival. Take it away and just let me start a new beginning. They really, really, really hurt me. I am really hurt by that.”
Fyre Fest mastermind Billy McFarland is currently serving a six-year federal prison sentence for defrauding Fyre Festival investors, as well as running a ticket-selling scam while he was on probation for the Fyre Fest charges. Lawsuits adding up to more than $100 million in damages have also been filed against McFarland and his Fyre Fest cofounder Ja Rule. Reps for both did not respond to Moneyish requests for comment.
Don’t miss: Netflix’s ‘Fyre’ offers a front-row seat to Fyre Fest’s epic fail
Ja Rule did apologize to Rolle on Twitter and Instagram, however, writing: “My heart goes out to this lovely lady... MaryAnne [sic] Rolle we’ve never met but I’m devastated that something that was meant to be amazing, turn out to be such a disaster and hurt so many ppl ... SORRY to anyone who has been negatively effected [sic] by the festival...” (As many viewers have also noted on Twitter, however, the Netflix doc has footage of Ja Rule sitting and speaking with Rolle.)
This Exuma restaurant was just one of many local businesses hurt by the Fyre Fest, which had an estimated $7 million in loans outstanding. The Bahamians who built the physical site have also been stiffed, according to the Netflix documentary, which speaks with the local contractors who were never paid for the weeks they worked, sometimes overnight, to try and get Fyre Fest up and running in the impossible window that the organizers gave them. The day laborers who built the stage and put the tents together are still owed about a quarter-million dollars.
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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-gofundme-page-for-a-restaurant-burned-by-fyre-fest-has-raised-more-than-160000-2019-01-22 2019-01-22 16:07:00Z
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