Fyre Festival Co-Founder Ja Rule Blasts Hulu, Netflix Documentaries, Claims He Was ‘Scammed’

Ja Rule is not happy with the way he was portrayed in the recent documentaries about the infamous Fyre Festival.

The rapper, who co-founded the 2017 festival with now-imprisoned Billy McFarland, went on a Twitter spree Sunday after he was fed up with the response to the separate Hulu and Netflix documentaries. Hulu released its film a few days before Netflix.

“I love how ppl watch a doc and think they have all the answers,” Ja Rule tweeted on Sunday. He then specifically called out the streaming platforms who made the documentaries.

“Hulu PAID BILLY!!! That money should have went to the ppl in the Bahamas,” he wrote, referencing the Bahama natives who are still unpaid for their work in preparing for the mega-failed event. “Netflix PAID f— Jerry who also did all the promo for the festival. the docs clearly have Billy at fault but let’s blame the rapper lmao ok.”

Elliot Tebele, an executive producer of the Netflix documentary, is also the creator of Jerry Media/F— Jerry, which operated as Fyre Festival’s social media agency. McFarland is interviewed in the Hulu documentary.

The directors of both films have criticized each other for the involvement of Tebele or McFarland. Both documentaries show Ja Rule co-directing the initial marketing campaign behind the festival. In a recording from the festival’s aftermath when visitors found the “luxury” experience would not be happening, Ja Rule can be heard telling Fyre employees, “That’s not fraud, that’s not fraud. That is… I would call that false advertising, maybe.” He immediately apologized after the festival took over national news and tweeted that it was “NOT A SCAM” and “NOT MY FAULT.”

He maintained his innocence on Sunday, tweeting that he “had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make???”

He claimed that he was also a victim of McFarland’s lies. “I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead [sic] astray!!!” he wrote.

McFarland, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 for making false statements to investors and sharing fraudulent documents, also pleaded guilty to separate counts of wire fraud and money laundering after being accused of selling fraudulent tickets to events such as the Grammys, Coachella, the Met Gala and more.

While controversy surrounds both documentaries, many on social media argue that the real victims of the Frye Festival are the unpaid employees.

“The only thing I care about after watching the #FyreFestival documentary is the Bahamian locals who were overworked & never paid and Maryann Rolle who put $50,000 of her savings to pay the workers at her restaurant who manned the event,” one Twitter user wrote.

A GoFundMe campaign for Rolle, the unpaid caterer, has already raised over $130,000.

Frye Fraud is now streaming on Hulu and FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is now streaming on Netflix.