Tosh Show
Convicted felon Billy McFarland is a man who will forever life in infamy due to the complete and utter disaster that was the Fyre Festival back in 2017, an event which turned out to be such a monumental catastrophe that it spawned multiple documentaries just to relive how incomparably awful it was.
Billy did his time. He and Ja Rule were sued in a $100 million class action lawsuit in 2017 and that same month Billy McFarland was arrested and charged with wire fraud, a crime he’d be convicted of and be sentenced to six years in federal prison for but he’d serve less than 4.
These days, Billy McFarland appears to be trying to get Fyre Fest 2.0 off the grounds. Tickets went on sale last Summer and people were scrambling to purchase them. More recently, Billy joined Daniel Tosh on the Tosh Show podcast to discuss his first meal after prison, how much money he still owes to investors, and how those debts rule his life.
Kicking the interview off, Daniel Tosh asked Billy what the first thing he ate was when he got out of prison. Billy says it was “shrimp from Costco.” Tosh grimaces but the only reason I’m really including this portion is to defend Costco seafood. They have some of the best crab legs in the game and their ahi tuna is always spectacular. Do NOT sleep on Costco seafood.
At 14:15…
Daniel Tosh: “How much do you owe?”
Billy McFarland: “It’s between $26 and $26 million and it kind of changes by the hour.”
Daniel Tosh: “So you do still have to pay this back?”
Billy McFarland: “Yeah, every month I literally get have to give a check back to the investors and then they get a percentage of all the business revenue too. So, ‘Fyre 2′ makes $100 then a percentage of that goes back to them.”
Daniel Tosh: “Is there any way you could be free and clear in one big festival?”
Billy McFarland: “It’ll probably take 3 or 4 festivals to pay it all back. I have partners who owned significant pieces of it…”
Daniel Tosh: “Did you ever in your wildest dreams think you would be in the hole $26 million?”
Billy McFarland: “I think it’s past the point of being tangible, right? It’s just so much, at least for me.”
Later in the interview, on whether Billy has any money at all now:
Daniel Tosh: “How much money do you have in your (bank account)… What’s your current net worth?”
Billy McFarland: “So, I owe between $26 and $28 million. So… negative in that range.”
Daniel Tosh: “They don’t allow you to keep any money?”
Billy McFarland: “I can keep money but I pay a percentage of whatever I earn…”
For the full interview, hit ‘play’ on the Tosh Show video above!