BILLY McFarland's ex-colleague has begged fans not to attend Fyre Festival 2 in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun.
Billy's former co-worker JD Beebe claimed he was burned by the convicted fraudster, and warned others thinking about spending their money on his old boss' newest business venture.
JD explained how he previously had an advertising company that was brought on to help Billy with his now-defunct card-based membership club Magnises, which has retroactively been called a scam.
The former advertising exec said Billy had hired him and his company to begin working with Magnises to drive customers to get the card.
In collecting their fees from Billy for their work, JD said the convicted scammer would keep switching out credit cards, which as a start-up, wasn't something the ad execs questioned – until Billy allegedly used their own company card to run up nearly a $100,000 tab.
The fraudster then allegedly ceased contact.
Eventually, JD opted to write a Better Business Bureau review, which he claimed was “very fair. As mad as I was, it was just explaining what happened.”
The BBB review was then allegedly seen by one of Billy's investors, and then, Billy contacted JD angrily, asking him to take down the review.
After that final interaction, the ad exec got his company's money back.
WHAT SHOULD ANYONE EXPECT?
Now, JD is warning others who are thinking about spending their hard-earned cash on Billy's latest endeavor, Fyre Festival 2, especially considering the event's frequent location changes, lack of any discernible lineup or set date for the aforementioned event.
“I don't even think there's been enough promise to go as advertised, so I don't even know what people are signing up for.
“I don't believe that what he said people have paid for is true, he has a long history of stating things that aren't true, in terms of x numbers, tickets, and this, that and the other.
“It seems like there's an event that's going to happen. But who knows what it's going to be, you know? I don't know. Is that a victory, that an event is going to happen?” JD questioned.
“Is it going to go on as as advertised? No, because he's advertised nothing.”
The event's location has changed twice since being officially announced last month.
A ticket obtained by The U.S. Sun for the event originally listed the date of FYRE 2 as December 6, 2024, but it has been pushed back several times since.
As of this post, the event is slated to go on from May 30 through June 2, 2025.
The former ad exec said he believes there will be some sort of event that takes place and that its not going to be a “cheese sandwich the FEMA fiasco,” referencing touch points from the last disaster.
But he expects it will be “a nothing burger of an event.”
“Like congratulations, you've plastered your name and your notoriety on another weekend in Playa Del Carmen.”
As far as the claim Billy and his FYRE 2 team made in a press conference earlier this week that they are planning for an event with 1,800 people, JD said “Maybe some poor souls will come through, but are people coming droves? I dont believe that.”
His advice to people thinking about purchasing a ticket was pretty simple.
“Life is so short, there are so many other things to spend your money and time on,” he said.
FYRE Festival & Billy McFarland
The inaugural FYRE Festival remains one of the most infamous event disasters in history.
Attendees were left devastated after spending tens of thousands of dollars to attend the event, only to arrive on an island in the Bahamas lacking food, water, and accommodation- not to mention the musical acts all pulled out at the last minute.
The debacle was magnified by social media, with disgruntled influencers sharing their outrage after stepping onto Great Exuma expecting the party of a lifetime.
Instead of the promised luxury villas, festival-goers were greeted by re-purposed emergency FEMA tents.
Enticed by the allure of world-class cuisine, ticket holders found themselves served cold cheese sandwiches in foam containers.
Despite the spectacular failure, Billy exclusively told The U.S. Sun in an interview that he has his reasons for attempting the event a second time.
Billy said: “This is the most tangible way to repay the $26 million that I owe, and having real partners gives an opportunity in the next five to seven years, to actually pay back that $26 million.
“And unfortunately, no one's offering me $26 million to work somewhere else.”
The convicted felon, who faced charges for misleading his investors, went on to say he is taking full advantage of his notoriety.
“We are literally the most talked about music festival in the world. We've had three times as many mentioned this Coachella, which is in second place and there's a huge drop-off after that.
“It's an incredible opportunity to steer that ship into the storm and embrace everything that's happened.”
“Do anything else, just anything else, like anything else that is certain in life.
“Spend time with your family, Bring, bring your loved one out to dinner who you know is going to be there. That's what I'd say.”
Additionally, JD feels like people who are going to the second iteration of Fyre Festival are likely going to just watch it all go south again.
“It's like you go because it's a car crash.
“It's only to gawk like, it's not because, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun.'”
Then, he added his prediction of the very best-case scenario for Fyre Festival 2.
“Even in the most optimistic of the readings, it's like, oh, actually, that the artists there are talented artist, and I had a good time and it wasn't a total disaster, which I don't believe it's going to be disaster,”
he said. “I think it's just going to be run-of-the-mill good time, which is fine.”
The ad exec said that he does take some comfort in Billy's previous claims that this time around, the convicted con-man has no involvement in the money for FYRE 2.
“I think this time around, which is what is probably best for everyone, is that he's the carnival barker here, and nothing more.
“He's not holding the money, which is the best scenario for everybody. The fact that he is not in control of the purse is the best thing about this.”
However, JD still warned: “The fact that there's still no artists and no real details, and the date is maybe solid, but maybe not.
“In the terms of service, say they can change it, and they don't owe you anything, and you can't sue them if they change it.
“It all just still seems very sketchy to me.”
As The U.S. Sun previously reported, the Terms of Service for Fyre 2 essentially said ticket holders will not be refunded if the event is abruptly canceled.
Billy served six years in prison for wire fraud and related crimes, and remains on probation.
