Maybe the guy who got famous for defrauding investors of $26 million, whose Wikipedia listing literally has the word “fraudster†in parentheses next to his name, shouldn’t have made his latest scam pirate themed. You would think he wouldn’t want his name to be any more affiliated with plunder than it already is. Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland has debuted a new venture on TikTok, and it’s called PYRT, which is clearly intended to be a clubbified “pirate,†but which I keep reading as “purt.†Hollywood already smells blood in the water, and Deadline reports that Ample Entertainment is producing a documentary called After the Fyre that will “feature the disgraced entrepreneur as he launches his next business venture and attempts to pay back the $26 million dollars he still owes after scandalously defrauding investors, partners and attendees of the promised-but-botched luxurious music event that took place in 2017.â€
All right, so what exactly is PYRT? It’s a treasure hunt for 99 messages in bottles hidden in the Bahamas. Sounds like a flawless way to gross $26 million. Except the Royal Bahamas Police Force will arrest his ass if he even tries it.
The Bahamas’s Eyewitness News shared a statement from The Government of The Bahamas stating that they have not received any applications for McFarland and his associates to run the event, and even if they did, the answer would be the world’s fastest “no.†“The Government of The Bahamas will not endorse or approve any event in The Bahamas associated with him,†reads the statement. “He is considered to be a fugitive, with several pending complaints made against him. Anyone knowing of his whereabouts should report same to the RBPF.â€
Say you know all this and still want to be a PYRT because you have a scam kink or something. The venture’s website reads, “A PYRT is someone who turns the impossible into an adventure.†Adventuring straight to jail.