A GoFundMe page set up by Marynn Rolle, the owner of Exuma Point Bar and Grille in the Bahamas, has raised more than $130,000 in a week following the release of Netflix‘s new documentary, Fyre Festival: The Greatest Party that Never Happened.
Rolle, who was hired to feed the staffers of the defunct Fyre Festival, was forced to dip into her own savings to pay the 10 employees she had hired that were working around the clock after she was left unpaid by Fyre co-founder Billy McFarland and the festival’s other organizers.
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“I went through about $50,000 of my savings that I could’ve had for [a] rainy day. And they just wiped it out and never looked back,” a tearful Rolle explained in the documentary. “Personally, I don’t even like to talk about the Fyre Festival. Just take it away and just let me start a new beginning. Because they really, really, really hurt me. I am really hurt from that. To see nobody return to say let me take care of what she has done. We know she has done right. I just leave it alone because it really pains me when I have to talk about it, so I just wipe it away.”
Rolle had set up the GoFundMe page on Jan. 14 to coincide with the release of Netflix’s Fyre Festival: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, in which she detailed her experience with McFarland, who she had accepted a “good faith contract” with. Rolle immediately became the documentary’s most memorable participant, her tear-filled recounting of the events surrounding the festival pulling at the heartstrings of viewers.
“It has been an unforgettable experience catering to the organizers of Fyre Festival,” Rolle wrote on her crowdfunding campaign. “Back in April 2017, I pushed myself to the limit catering no less than a 1,000 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all prepared and delivered by Exuma Point to Coco Plum Beach and Roker’s Point where the main events were scheduled to take place. Organizers would also visit my Exuma Point location to enjoy the prepared meals.”
“Fyre Fest organizers were also checked into all the rooms at Exuma Point Resort,” she continued. “As I make this plea it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…. I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest. My only resource today is to appeal for help.”
“There is an old saying that goes ‘bad publicity is better than no publicity’ and I pray that whoever reads this plea is able to assist,” she concluded.
Rolle’s GoFundMe page has since surpassed its $123,000 goal and has reached more than $160,000 in just a week.
