On Monday, a judge granted an ex parte order in favor of Fyre Festival trustee Gregory Messner (who is overseeing the bankruptcy of Fyre Media) to issue subpoenas to celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Emily Ratajkowski.
The models appeared in a promotional video shot in the Bahamas. They also shared Instagram posts positively advertising the festival.
IMG Models represents Hadid, Baldwin and Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk, who all promoted the disastrous 2017 festival. DNA Model Management, which represents Ratajkowski, is another organisations that will receive a subpoena.
The purpose of the subpoenas is to account for $5.2 million of the estimated $26 million in investor funds McFarland is believed to have spent ahead of the doomed festival.
According to reports, IMG received $1.2 million from the festival’s founder Billy McFarland between November 2016 and February 2017. DNA received $299,000 from McFarland in March 2017.
Messner is also investigating an alleged $250,000 payment made to Jenner. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Jenner announced that artists from G.O.O.D. Music would be headlining the festival.
Jerry Media, an agency responsible for the social media promotion of the festival, will also be issued a subpoena.
Fyre Festival gripped the internet when the event fell apart in April 2017. Instead of a luxury music experience held on Pablo Escobar’s former island in the Bahamas, guests arrived to find no luxurious housing, no gourmet meals and no musical acts.
Netflix released a documentary about the rise and fall of the festival recently.
