The Fyre Festival Caterer Who Lost Her Life Savings Has Received Over $160K in Donations
One of the most poignant moments in Netflix’s new documentary about the Fyre Festival is when Maryann Rolle, owner of the Exuma Point Resort, reveals she drained her savings to pay employees who prepared food for the now infamous event.
“I had 10 persons working directly with me just preparing food all day and all night, 24 hours,” Rolle says toward the end of the documentary. “I had to literally pay all those people. I am here as a Bahamian, and they stand in my face every day. I went through about $50,000 of my savings that I could have had for a rainy day. They just wiped it out and never looked back. Personally, I don’t even like to talk about the Fyre Festival. Just take it away and let me start a new beginning, ’cause they really hurt me. I am really hurt from that.”
Rolle is just one of many people affected by the Fyre Festival, which was founded by Billy McFarland and promised attendees a luxurious weekend in the Bahamas filled with music. Of course, this didn’t happen: Nothing originally advertised about the Fyre Festival came to fruition. There were no fancy accommodations or delicious food or Instagram models running around. It was all, essentially, a scam—and according to Netflix’s doc, many of the local Bahamians who worked on the festival were never compensated. This included Rolle.
But it looks like she’s finally receiving some justice. Rolle started a GoFundMe on January 14 seeking $123,000 to dig herself out of the hole caused by Fyre Fest—and people are stepping up to help. So far, Rolle has raised over $166,000 from more than 5,000 donors.
“As I make this plea, it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…I was left in a big hole,” Rolle wrote in her GoFundMe post. “My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest. My only resource today is to appeal for help.”
Netflix’s documentary clearly had an effect on people. “Just watched the Fyre Festival doc and I’ve also been to Exuma. As soon as I heard your story of spending $50k of your own money, I knew I wanted to donate somewhere,” one person wrote on the GoFundMe page. “My heart goes out to Maryann. I hope she can rebuild and put the horrible things behind her,” posted another.
If this doesn’t restore your faith in humanity, what will?
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