Kendall Jenner has been busy lately, becoming one of the most in-demand and highest-earning models (including magazine cover models) in the industry. But a couple of years ago, she was embroiled in a scandal that dominated Instagram, Twitter, and every other social media platform.
In 2017, Kendall shared an Instagram post promoting the Fyre Festival, which was backed by a guy named Billy MacFarland (the CEO of Fyre Media) and a more recognizable name (at least to '00s rap fans) — Ja Rule.
But as Refinery29 later explained, there wasn't enough funding or time to pull off the proposed event, which was said to be taking place on a beach in the Bahamas. Yet Kendall (and plenty of other influencers) shared deets about who would be headlining and offered her followers a discount code they could use to buy tickets.
Of course, as fans soon found out, the event would never happen. Well, not in the way people assumed it would; entertainers were no-shows, the food was awful, and FEMA tents were the only accommodations. And the ticket prices for attendees? Between $500 and $250K.
The public was not happy, and neither was the Federal Trade Commission because Kendall hadn't tagged her post as an #ad, despite legal requirements to do so. Still, Kendall reportedly received a $250K payday for sharing the post. She didn't get to keep all of it, though.
While MacFarland earned prison time for defrauding Fyre Festival investors of around $27.4 million, Kendall was involved in a lawsuit wherein "trustees" aimed to recoup investors' and the public's cash from the ill-fated Fyre event.
Forbes recapped that those trustees sued Kendall for around $275K to help put cash back in honest folks' pockets. Though she admitted no wrongdoing, Kendall did wind up settling the lawsuit a couple of years after the event fell apart.
Of course, she also eventually came out to defend herself against allegations of wrongdoing, noted Harper's Bazaar. The model maintained that she had no idea how the events would play out and that while she tries to research every paid opportunity, it's not always possible to predict how a brand will move forward (if at all).
Basically, blind trust in a brand that was willing to pay her $250K for an Instagram post landed Kendall (or least her lawyers) in court. The price tag she had to manage for the fiasco? Only $90K.
Forbes confirmed in early 2020 that Kendall paid $90K in the lawsuit, which sought to refill Fyre Media's coffers to "recover money for creditors," since the company filed bankruptcy.
Of course, Kendall's no stranger to controversy at this point. She's since angered other models with off-the-cuff comments, and of course, the Kar-Jenner fam is always making headlines for better or worse.