A class action lawsuit filed by ticket-holders of the ill-fated Fyre Festival can go forward for now, a judge ruled, while also tossing the fraud claims against rapper and festival promoter Ja Rule.
Federal Judge Kevin Castel ruled that Ja Rule, real name Jeffrey Atkins, and the Fyre Festival's chief marketing officer, Grant Margolin, could not have known the festival was going to devolve into chaos when they were promoting it to wealthy attendees and social-media influencers. He gave plaintiffs three weeks to provide new evidence that Rule and Margolin were party to anything more than marketing "puffery."
Ja Rule was a regular presence in the months leading up to Fyre, alongside Billy MacFarland, the Fyre Festival organizer who is now serving a six-year fraud sentence. The two were captured on video in dueling documentaries on Netflix and Hulu boasting about the success of the 2017 concert in the Bahamas, even in the 24 hours leading up to it, when it became obvious to even casual observers that the festival was doomed.
Judge Castel wrote: "There is no assertion that the Festival when first conceived or introduced to the public was intended not to go forward or that defendants intended not to perform by organizing the advertised amenities and accommodation."
Ja Rule's freedom from legal entanglement with the Fyre Festival may help him as he embarks on his latest business endeavor: a music festival that he says he wants to be just like Fyre, only functional.
TikTok once again finds itself in a precarious position as lawmakers in Washington move forward with a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on the platform.
Bryan West, Gannett’s Taylor Swift reporter, recaps the many, many, theories and Easter eggs Swifties are debating as her ‘Eras Tour’ film comes to Disney+.
‘Our Biggest Fight’ author and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, Jr. explains his problem with the internet – and why this Tiktok bill is just a starting point.
Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, a sign that inflation remains a persistent challenge for the Federal Reserve and for President Biden.
Jayesh Govindarajan, head of A.I. at Salesforce, explains the company's new Einstein copilot, plus other ways it is investing in artificial intelligence.
Altro founder and CEO Michael Broughton shares how his company is bringing both expanded credit access and financial wellness to underserved consumers, plus netting early investments from Tinashe, Quavo, and Jay Z’s Marcy Ventures.
Portillo’s CEO Michael Osanloo discusses the company’s decades of profitability, opening restaurants in new markets, and why it doesn’t need trends like dynamic pricing.
