Entertainment
LimeWire Buys Fyre Festival After Bidding War With Ryan Reynolds
Fyre Festival
We’ve Got a New Owner …
and It’s Not Ryan Reynolds
Published
Fyre Festival is ready for its next chapter … the infamous music festival has been acquired by LimeWire — 8 years after its initial chaotic launch.
Reps for LimeWire tell TMZ … the software company has acquired the Fyre Festival brand, with the purpose of launching a whole new project under this collaboration. The acquisition came about after a bidding war with Ryan Reynolds‘ company, Maximum Effort.
A source with knowledge tells TMZ … Ryan put in a bid, since Maximum Effort was already making an ad for Visa skewering Fyre … so, why not?!
Reynolds has since congratulated LimeWire on winning the bidding war, noting he looks forward to attending their first event … though, he jokes he’ll bring his “own pallet of water.”
LimeWire likely isn’t bothered by this jab, explaining in their announcement they don’t plan on running from the festival’s messy history — promising a “reimagined vision for Fyre.”
While they stay tight-lipped on specifics for the rebrand, LimeWire CEO Julian Zehetmayr did clarify they’re not bringing back the festival.
He added … “We’re bringing the brand and the meme back to life. This time with real experiences, and without the cheese sandwiches.”
Remember, Fyre Festival made headlines back in 2017 after Billy McFarland and Ja Rule promised a luxury festival experience in the Bahamas … with arriving attendees instead encountering refugee-level amenities on the ground.
The event sparked nationwide intrigue and became the focus of 2 high-profile documentaries, Hulu’s “Fyre Fraud” and Netflix’s “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.”
Organizer McFarland was later convicted of fraud, going on to serve 6 years in prison following the debacle.
McFarland attempted to revive the festival, rebranded as “Fyre 2,” earlier this year, but ultimately had to cancel the follow-up fest due to scheduling issues.
We’ll have to wait and see what LimeWire — a file-sharing platform popular in the early aughts — has up its sleeves for Fyre’s next chapter.