Kendall Jenner, Soulja Boy & More Facing Subpoena In Fyre Festival Investigation

BY ELIJAH C. WATSON • JANUARY 28 2019

Artists and models alike may soon be facing subpoenas in regards to payments they received from Billy McFarland, the creator of the failed Fyre Festival.

Gregory Messer, a trusteeoverseeing the bankruptcy of Fyre Festival, asked a judge for subpoenas for the models who helped promote the event. The models include Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Emily Ratajkowski. Messer said that IMG Models, the agency that represents supermodels like Hadid and Bieber, “received payments of $1.2 million from McFarland between November 2016 and February 2017,” according to Billboard.

Both Hadid and Bieber appeared in a promotional video for the Fyre Festival.

Messer is also looking into payment Jenner received for promoting the festival. In January 2017, Jenner received a payment of $250,000 and promoted the event several months later in an Instagram post stating that members of Kanye West‘s G.O.O.D Music label would be performing at the event. She received a warning from the Federal Trade Commission for the post after she failed to indicate that it was a paid advertisement.

As for artists who might also face subpoenas, Messer has made requests for Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka Flame. Both were paid $115,000 and $150,000, respectively, around August 2016. Both were paid to promote or use the Fyre Media app, which was supposed to allow fans to book artists direct without having to go through a booking agent.

In his subpoena request, Messer said that McFarland’s “failure to file required schedules and a statement of financial affairs has required the Trustee to uncover as much information as he can from third parties in order to gain a full understanding of (McFarland’s) financial affairs.”

Currently, McFarland now serving a six-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to multiple counts of fraud.

READ MORE AT OKAYPLAYER

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