Latest news with #Fyre
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside Trump's big-spender meme coin dinner: Presidential seal and food that looked ‘worse than Spirit Airlines'
A black-tie gala thrown for the top 220 buyers of Donald Trump's meme coin Thursday night at his Virginia golf club featured the president flying in on Marine One and speaking at a lectern emblazoned with the presidential seal, despite the White House arguing that it was a 'private' event and he was 'attending it in his personal time.' But while the event prompted ethics experts to warn that Trump has crossed a line by potentially profiting directly from his presidency while simultaneously allowing crypto enthusiasts and others to buy access to the office, leaked footage and reports from inside the event reveal that some attendees came away highly disappointed. Particularly over the meal, which left a lot to be desired. While the menu for the evening was a filet mignon with demi-glaze and pan-seared halibut with a citrus reduction, what was served to the guests wouldn't have looked out of place at Ikea — albeit served on dinner plates emblazoned with a gilded 'Trump Washington, D.C.' logo. 'It was the worst food I've ever had at a Trump golf course,' TikTok personality Nick Pinto, who gained entry by investing $300,000 in the Trump family cryptocurrency, told Wired. 'The only good thing was bread and butter.' While Pinto said he left the gala hungry, another attendee also gave subpar marks for the food. 'OK, but not top-class,' the guest reviewed the fare served him at the Trump National Golf Club. After Wired reporter Matthew Champion posted a picture – shared with him by one of the attendees – of a sad plate of food served at the event, it didn't take long for the mockery to go into full swing. 'I've had better food on Spirit Airlines,' snarked CNBC correspondent Steve Kovach, who was not at the event, referencing the discount airline. Indeed, the photo showed a minuscule portion of food on the large, white-with-gold-leaf Trump plate. A handful of orange sticks – perhaps carrots – sat alongside a lonely slice of squash, while it appeared an ice cream scoop was used to add a dollop of yellow mashed potatoes on the dish. The small piece of halibut looked more like dry chicken, and the filet was covered in brown gravy but still appeared extremely overcooked. '[T]hey used the catering service from the fyre festival lol,' The Ringer senior staff writer Joel Anderson reacted, invoking the fraudulent 'luxury' music Fyre festival that resulted in a prison sentence for its organizer who had promised gourmet food and accommodations to a Bahamas music festival that in reality amounted to slices of cheese on white bread and flimsy, leaking tents. Of course, the guests weren't at Trump's gala for the food – they were hoping to get some face time with the leader of the free world. But that, too, brought about some disappointment from those gathered. After Trump arrived at the golf course via his presidential helicopter, he delivered a 25-minute by-the-numbers speech that only briefly touched on cryptocurrency. 'I think it's really got a great, great future,' Trump said in one clip shared online. 'I think you're on the cutting edge. Everyone think it is just the beginning. And I can just say that we are, we're believers in the whole administration. We're big believers.' In a separate clip shared by Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire known for his publicity stunts who has spent more than $20 million on the $TRUMP meme coin, the presidential seal was clearly visible on Trump's lectern. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously tried to head off any criticism over the gala, which included The Wall Street Journal editorial board accusing Trump of using his office to enrich himself and his family, by merely insisting it wasn't an official event. Asked during Thursday's press briefing about the likelihood that most of the top buyers were foreign investors and whether the administration would publish a list of the attendees so the public knew who was buying access to the president, Leavitt said: 'The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner, it's not taking place here at the White House.' She also grumbled that it was 'absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency.' Since the meme coin's debut in January, Trump's businesses have made over $300 million in sales and $43 million in total fees, according to a Washington Post analysis. After the dinner was announced last month, Trump and his business partners have brought in over $3 million in transaction fees alone. Sun, meanwhile, was charged in 2023 by the Biden-era Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and market manipulation. Those charges were put on hold by Trump's SEC after Sun invested $75 million in another Trump family crypto project, World Liberty Financial. While neither the White House nor the gala organizers made the list of the 220 top buyers public and the event was closed to the press, raising additional ethical concerns over the secrecy, Sun said that he topped the buyer leaderboard. 'The contest to attend the crypto dinner ran from April 23 to May 12, and it was not immediately clear how much the meme coin buyers paid to attend the event,' the Washington Post reported. 'The top 25 on an online leader board set up by the Trump-affiliated business to rank their spending hold a total of $140 million in Trump coins.' While the top 25 on the list were invited to an 'ultraexclusive private VIP reception,' it appeared that the president only spent a short amount of time at the event and didn't even stick around to hand out prizes to the top purchasers of his cryptocurrency. 'Trump could have at least given the top people their watches himself,' Pinto groused. 'He didn't.' While some attendees told Wired that their overriding memory of the event would be the 'warm welcome' they received as the gala kicked off, walking into the dinner was a whole different story. Guests, which included one-time NBA star and Kardashian beau Lamar Odom, were greeted by a horde of booing protesters who chanted 'shame, shame, shame' while holding up signs that read 'Stop Crypto Corruption' and 'Don the Con.'
American Military News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- American Military News
Fyre Festival 2 flames out as Billy McFarland puts brand up for sale: ‘I need to step back'
When promoter and convicted fraudster Billy McFarland sought to revive his infamous Fyre Festival this year, he wanted to do it 'with honesty, transparency, relentless effort, and creativity.' Now, Fyre Festival 2 is indefinitely postponed, and McFarland seeks to distance himself from the event, putting the Fyre brand up for sale. 'This brand is bigger than any one person and bigger than what I'm able to lead on my own,' McFarland said Wednesday in a statement shared to the Fyre Festival website and Instagram page. 'It's a movement. And it deserves a team with the scale, experience, and infrastructure to realize its potential,' McFarland said. 'We have decided the best way to accomplish our goals is to sell the FYRE Festival brand … to an operator that can fully realize its vision.' McFarland announced his decision to step away from Fyre two months after declaring in February that 'Fyre Festival 2 is real' and was set to come to Isla Mujeres in the Mexican Caribbean from May 30 to June 2. At the time, he said he saw the Mexico event as a 'second chance.' The first iteration of McFarland's Fyre Festival in 2017 advertised two weekends of a luxury music event on a private island in Exuma, the Bahamas. Attendees, some who shelled out more than $10,000 for tickets, were instead met with canceled shows, plain cheese sandwiches and flimsy tents that struggled to withstand stormy conditions at the botched event, founded by McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. The fiasco quickly went viral and in the following years inspired documentaries from both Hulu and Netflix. A year after the first Fyre Festival, McFarland pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding investors of $26 million in the failed event and over $100,000 in a fraudulent ticket-selling scheme. Dubbed a 'serial fraudster' by a New York judge, McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison. He was released early and placed under house arrest in 2022. Fyre Festival 2 (not to be confused with the other Fyre Festival 2 that was announced and quickly scrapped in 2023) touted four ticket tiers ranging from $1,400 to $1.1 million. The website for the fest also featured vague promises of 'an electrifying celebration of music, arts, cuisine, comedy, fashion, gaming, sports and treasure hunting.' Fyre Festival 2 boasted 'unforgettable performances, immersive experiences,' but an artist lineup was never revealed. Pages detailing ticket sales and accommodation have since been scrubbed from the website. The Instagram post announcing the return of the festival has also been deleted. The road to Fyre Festival 2 seemed turbulent even before McFarland announced his search for a buyer. A week after the promoter confidently unveiled his plans for Fyre Festival 2, the tourism board of Isla Mujeres said it had 'no knowledge of this event.' A spokesperson for the tourism board told the Guardian in early March, 'For us, this is an event that does not exist.' Not long after, McFarland disputed those claims in a since-deleted Instagram video, reassuring followers that the event's team did have accommodations in place for festival goers and 'we have talent.' The Fyre Festival team, in a statement to ticket holders reviewed by The Times, said it was 'blindsided' by Isla Mujeres officials' claims and instead opted to host the event at Mexico's Playa del Carmen. In late March, McFarland shared videos from a beachside press conference about the event featuring himself and a panel of Fyre Festival partners and organizers. On April 2, Playa del Carmen government officials issued a statement in Spanish on Instagram with a familiar message. 'After a thorough review, there is no record or planning of any such event in the municipality,' the statement said, according to NBC News. In its notice to ticket holders last week, the Fyre team claimed it had paid for the necessary permits to move forward with the event at Playa del Carmen and accused the local government of theft. 'Due to this, we have decided to move FYRE Festival 2 elsewhere.' The third location has yet to be revealed — just like the new dates and artist lineup. McFarland referenced the planning challenges on Wednesday and claimed Fyre has since received interest from 'several Caribbean destinations eager to host.' However, he said, 'it's clear that I need to step back and allow a new team to move forward independently, bringing the vision to life on this incredible island.' In his notice, McFarland attempted to appeal to potential buyers with arbitrary claims that supposedly stemmed from Fyre Festival's reputation: 'one of the most powerful attention engines in the world' and 'one of the world's most talked-about music festivals.' Earlier this week, Deadline reported that the festival will get another life as a streaming service after documentarian Shawn Rech acquired some Fyre IP. This week, the event's website transformed into a site focused on selling the brand instead of tickets. Metrics touting the brand's supposed online and social media clout now stand in place of vibrant slides detailing the perks of each ticket tier. The website also features a form where potential buyers can name their price. 'Giving control of the brand to a new group is the most responsible way to follow through on what we set out to do: build a global entertainment brand, host a safe and legendary event, and continue to pay restitution to those who are owed from the first festival,' McFarland said. He concluded his letter: 'The next chapter of FYRE will be bigger, better, and built to last without me at the helm.' Where Fyre Festival 2 goes from here remains to be seen. A silver lining to these latest developments, however, is that McFarland announced his intentions to step away before faithful festival goers descended on a yet-to-be-determined destination for a host of vaguely vibey activities and a possible tropical nightmare with a side of sad cheese sandwiches. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stagecoach Festival 2025: Lineup, daily schedule, where to watch live
The 2025 Stagecoach Festival has arrived. The country music festival kicks off April 25 with some of the biggest names in country music hitting the stage for a three-day extravaganza at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. This year's festival will be headlined by Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll and Luke Combs, and will also feature performances from the likes of Lana Del Rey, Sturgill Simpson, Shaboozey, Sammy Hagar, and Scotty McCreery, among many others. Here's what you need to know about this year's Stagecoach Festival, including the full lineup and how to watch it from home. Festival organizers announced on social media on April 4 that the festival is sold out. The headliners of this year's Stagecoach Festival are Zach Bryan on April 25, Jelly Roll on April 26, and Luke Combs on April 27. Festival news: Billy McFarland says he's selling Fyre brand, including 'Caribbean festival location' Festival organizers unveiled this year's musical lineup on social media in September 2024. The full list of performers can be found on the festival website. According to the festival's official Instagram page and website, tickets are officially sold out for this year's Stagecoach. Fans who are hoping to snag tickets can join the ticket waitlist. The full, daily schedule for Stagecoach 2025 can be found on the festival's website. Stagecoach performances will be available to livestream on the festival's website via Amazon Music. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stagecoach Festival 2025: Lineup, daily schedule, where to watch
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Stagecoach Festival 2025: Lineup, daily schedule, where to watch live
Stagecoach Festival 2025: Lineup, daily schedule, where to watch live The 2025 Stagecoach Festival has arrived. The country music festival kicks off April 25 with some of the biggest names in country music hitting the stage for a three-day extravaganza at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. This year's festival will be headlined by Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll and Luke Combs, and will also feature performances from the likes of Lana Del Rey, Sturgill Simpson, Shaboozey, Sammy Hagar, and Scotty McCreery, among many others. Here's what you need to know about this year's Stagecoach Festival, including the full lineup and how to watch it from home. Festival organizers announced on social media on April 4 that the festival is sold out. Who's headlining Stagecoach 2025? The headliners of this year's Stagecoach Festival are Zach Bryan on April 25, Jelly Roll on April 26, and Luke Combs on April 27. Festival news: Billy McFarland says he's selling Fyre brand, including 'Caribbean festival location' Stagecoach 2025 lineup Festival organizers unveiled this year's musical lineup on social media in September 2024. The full list of performers can be found on the festival website. Stagecoach 2025 tickets According to the festival's official Instagram page and website, tickets are officially sold out for this year's Stagecoach. Fans who are hoping to snag tickets can join the ticket waitlist. Stagecoach 2025 daily schedule The full, daily schedule for Stagecoach 2025 can be found on the festival's website. How to watch Stagecoach 2025 on livestream Stagecoach performances will be available to livestream on the festival's website via Amazon Music. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Billy McFarland says he's selling Fyre brand, including 'Caribbean festival location'
Billy McFarland says he's selling Fyre brand, including 'Caribbean festival location' "It deserves a team with the scale, experience and infrastructure to realize its potential," founder Billy McFarland said about Fyre Festival in a statement. Show Caption Hide Caption Pitchfork Music Festival Will Not Return To Chicago In 2025 After 19 years, the Pitchfork Music Festival has announced it will not return to Chicago in 2025. unbranded - Entertainment Fyre Festival − the brand behind the 2017 scandal-ridden music festival and the so-far failed second attempt − is for sale. Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland announced on Wednesday, April 23 that he is selling the festival's brand, including intellectual property, trademarks, social media accounts, email, text lists and documentary coverage, according to information on the festival's website. The Fyre site formerly promoted a music, arts and culture festival, Fyre Festival 2, to occur May 30 through June 2 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. As of Wednesday, the website boasted the festival's for-sale brand asset package and a digital auction form for those interested in putting in an offer. "This brand is bigger than any one person and bigger than what I'm able to lead on my own. It's a movement. And it deserves a team with the scale, experience and infrastructure to realize its potential," McFarland wrote in a statement on the site and also shared on social media. The Fyre Festival team did not immediately respond when contacted by USA TODAY for comment on Thursday. It is unclear if the festival is still on track to begin May 30. Organizers most recently announced they were looking for a new location for the festival, just weeks before it's schedule start time, leading many to assume it was canceled or postponed. What is Fyre Festival 2? Previously described as an "electrifying celebration of music, arts, cuisine, comedy, fashion, gaming, sports and treasure hunting," Fyre Festival 2 boasted tickets that ranged between $1,400 for one person to $1.1 million for a group of eight. In 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for engaging in several fraudulent schemes related to the first Fyre Festival. After his arrest, the festival's organizer acknowledged that he had defrauded investors out of $26 million and more than $100,000 in fraudulent ticket-selling schemes. As part of his sentencing, McFarland agreed to pay $26 million in restitution to victims of the first Fyre Festival. Fyre Festival 2 co-founder Mike Falb previously told USA TODAY that $500,000 of the proceeds from the festival and an additional 10% of all profits would be put toward the restitution. As part of a potential sale of the brand, McFarland said in his statement that he would continue to pay restitution. What's for sale? The Fyre Festival website lists the following as part of the brand asset package: Brand name Intellectual property Trademarks Content, including photos, videos and graphics Domains Email and text lists Marketing materials Social media accounts Caribbean festival location Media and documentary coverage Artist support Team "Documentary coverage" appears to be in reference to two documentaries that were released after the first Fyre Festival − Netflix's "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" and Hulu's "Fyre Fraud." The revamped website also boasts online impressions and traffic, claiming that over the past 60 days, more than 422,000 unique visitors from 190 countries had visited the Fyre Festival website. The website suggests that interested parties fill out an online form to make an offer and share their plans for the brand. What's happening with Fyre Festival 2? Not unlike the inaugural Fyre Festival in 2017, this year's event has faced several roadblocks. In mid-April, just weeks before the festival's kickoff, event organizers announced they were seeking a new location for the festival, as the two previous ones hadn't worked in their favor. Initially, the festival was promoted to be held on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, a small island right off the coast of Cancún. But Isla Mujeres officials and a hotel that the festival claimed to work with said they were unaware of the event. After the festival announced it would be held in Playa del Carmen, again, government officials there said they weren't familiar with it. In response, Fyre Festival took to social media to share screenshots of emails and permits, but details were askew from what had been promoted. McFarland claimed 2,000 tickets were available for the festival, but shared permits indicated that only space for 250 people had been obtained. "When a government takes your money, issues permits, promotes the event and then pretends it's never heard of you, that's not just dishonest − it's theft. Due to this, we have decided to move Fyre Festival 2 elsewhere," a note sent to ticketholders in mid-April claimed. What happened during the first Fyre Festival? Intended to be held over two weeks in April and May 2017, the first Fyre Festival was promoted by social media influencers like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber, and ticketholders were promised acts like Blink-182 and Migos. However, upon arrival, festival-goers learned that the artists had canceled. Due to poor Caribbean weather, the festival was essentially washed out, with the promised luxury accommodations and gourmet food nowhere to be found. In the end, attendees only stayed one night before they were evacuated. Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@
