It was promoted as a luxury music festival where ticket holders would rub shoulders with celebrities. However, Fyre Festival was cancelled at the last minute, leaving hundreds of people both stranded in the Bahamas and thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Those who were involved in organising and promoting the event have began issuing public ‘apologies’ that are less than impressive.
Earlier today model Bella Hadid – who promoted the event on social media alongside Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski – posted an apology on Twitter. And it was uninspired at best.
“I feel so sorry and badly because this is something I couldn’t stand by, although of course if I would have known about the outcome, you would have all known too. I hope everyone is safe and back with their families and loved ones…xo.”
Throughout her post Hadid manages to shirk off any accountability for the event, claiming she would never have been involved in promoting it if she’d known the outcome.
The thing is, if you’re in the business of using your personal brand to promote products and events, you need to take responsibility – wholeheartedly and transparently – when things don’t go to plan.
Bella allowed her public image, and her sizeable social media following, to be used to create hype around the event and to sell a dream to people – for a huge amount of money – that did not become a reality.
Regular people – many of them millennials – chose to travel to the Bahamas to attend the festival, and I’m sure the possibility of running into their favourite celebrities played a role in that decision. If Hadid and her fellow celebs had publicly endorsed a face cream that left thousands of people with a rash and out-of-pocket medical expenses, they would be held up to public scrutiny.
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Perhaps before they put their name, and their face, behind a product or event, social media celebrities should think about the long-term consequences of that action, not just the quick buck they’re about to make. It’s very easy for these celebs to fire off a quick apology on social media and then return to their normal lives.
It will be harder for the average person, who planned to attend the festival, to recover the costs and time lost chasing a dream which never existed.
Top Comments
I'm not really sure what you expected her to do... repay her followers?
I think when people see celebrities endorsing something, they know that they are doing so because they're being paid, not because of some deep belief in what they are promoting. (And if they don't, they should.)