The Bahamas Shuts Down Billy McFarland’s Latest Scheme, Calls Him a ‘Fugitive’

Famously bad at reading the room, Billy McFarland is planning another event in a country where he isn't wanted.

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The Bahamas Shuts Down Billy McFarland’s Latest Scheme, Calls Him a ‘Fugitive’
Photo:TikTok/Getty Images

Even in the depths of prison, there lay an invincible Fyre Festival within the heart and mind of Billy McFarland. The infamous founder of the disastrous luxury festival and one-time roommate of Anna Delvey is a wanted man in the Bahamas—but it seems he’s choosing to interpret that as The Bahamas wanting him to come back.

McFarland was released early from prison in September and quickly hit the ground scamming. He already has another “event” in motion: a treasure hunt located in The Bahamas. A TikTok video, which has a little less than 25k views, explains that he’s hidden 99 bottles around the world, and “some might look similar, some might look different” than the one he’s holding up. Super helpful.

The first bottle, hidden in NYC, was found by a duo in late October. As a prize, which you can watch in the TikTok below, McFarland sends an entirely different man to the Bahamas. This Caribbean montage has all the hallmarks of the original Fyre Fest promotional videos: bikini clad models, jet skis, beach pigs. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if this new video is just extra footage from the cutting room floor of the first promo.

https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/7164848260774022446
As expected with anything McFarland touches, a big problem has already presented itself: The Deputy Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Chester Cooper, released a letter Monday making it very clear that the country will not “endorse or approve any event in The Bahamas associated with [McFarland.]” It goes on to call him a “fugitive” and asks that should anyone know where he is, to report his whereabouts to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Of course, where most people see roadblocks and red flags, McFarland sees opportunities to dig himself into deeper trouble. A few hours after this letter from the Bahamian government, McFarland responded with his own apology. “I am writing to you to profusely apologize for my actions 5 years ago,” the letter read, according to TMZ. “My main focus is how I can right my wrongs and how I can make the Bahamas and Family Islands, a region I care so deeply about, whole again.”

I’ve never heard of a treasure hunt making a community whole again, but I will happily tune into the impending disaster to see if I’m wrong.


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