Grammy-nominated rapper Ja Rule can’t escape the shadow of the infamous Fyre Festival disaster, even as he attempts to rebrand himself as a spirits entrepreneur.
During a recent appearance on Fox 5 New York’s “Good Day” with host Rosanna Scotto on March 12, the rapper found himself dodging questions about the festival’s controversial sequel.
The “Always On Time” artist was promoting his new Amber & Opal whiskey brand when Scotto ambushed him with news about his former business partner’s latest venture.
But Scotto was more interested in Frye Fest 2.0.
“Before you go, I just gotta ask you because that crazy Billy McFarland is doing another Fyre Festival,” Scotto said, catching the rapper off guard.
Visibly uncomfortable, Ja Rule responded with disbelief: “Oh Lord, no he isn’t.”
When Scotto confirmed that McFarland had indeed announced plans for a second festival reportedly near Cancun, Mexico, the 49-year-old artist quickly attempted to change the subject, suggesting they toast with glasses of his honey botanical whiskey instead.
Pressed on whether he would attend the event, Ja Rule didn’t mince words: “I’m not gonna be there.”
This is a different tune than what he said in 2019. On “The Breakfast Club,” two years after the first event flopped, he said he was going to do another one.
Now that has nixed those plans, it seems the Harvard Business School Entrepreneurship program graduate is moving on and trying to promote his latest venture — despite the Fyre Festival history looming over him.
The “Good Day” exchange was shared by The Jasmine Brand, and that site’s fans flocked to the comments section to remind the rapper that his association with the disastrous 2017 festival hasn’t been forgotten.
“I bet not. We still didn’t [for]get Ja,” wrote one commenter, while another added, “He learned his lesson.”
Some fans showed sympathy for the rapper’s predicament.
“Poor baby. That man scammed him and everyone else. I still [love] me some Ja!” another commented.
The original Fyre Festival, co-promoted by Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland, promised a luxury experience in the Bahamas but devolved into chaos when attendees arrived to find inadequate accommodations, subpar food (infamously represented by a sad cheese sandwich that went viral), and no festival infrastructure.
The disaster became such a cultural touchstone that both Netflix and Hulu produced documentaries examining the catastrophic event, further cementing Ja Rule’s association with one of the most notorious festival failures in history.
While McFarland served four years of a six-year prison sentence for wire fraud related to the event before his release in 2022, Ja Rule has maintained that he was merely the visionary behind the festival and not responsible for its operational failures.
A judge eventually dismissed him from a class-action lawsuit, ruling there was insufficient evidence that he directly participated in the fraud.
Now, as McFarland attempts to resurrect the Fyre brand with a sequel supposedly planned for late May/early June 2025 on Isla Mujeres, Mexican officials are already distancing themselves from the event.
“The General Directorate for Tourism of Isla Mujeres informs that no person or company has requested permits from this office or any other municipal government department for said event,” read a statement from Ayuntamiento de Isla Mujeres (the city hall for the Mexican island) released on Feb.; 26.
One Jasmine Brand commenter highlighted this discrepancy: “Mexico has no clue about any of it. The local government even said they’d not issued any permits connected to this event and know nothing about it.”
During his “Good Day” appearance, Ja Rule seemed determined to focus on his whiskey venture instead, telling Scotto, “Me and my three good brothers bootstrapped this from the beginning to what you see now.”
He positioned his product in a growing market, noting, “Everybody’s doing tequila; everybody’s doing vodkas. Whiskey is the next wave of alcohol. And I think people are very what we call ‘whiskey-curious.'”
Despite his attempts to move beyond the Frye debacle and establish himself in the spirits industry, Ja Rule’s viral moment with Scotto demonstrates that the public’s memory of his involvement remains fresh—even as he tries to toast to new beginnings.
For now, it seems the rapper is hoping his whiskey venture will help wash away the bitter taste of the Fyre Festival disaster, though social media users remain quick to remind him that some memories aren’t so easily diluted, even with top-shelf spirits.
