May 05, 2017
The venture capital arm of Comcast Corp. made a last-minute decision in recent weeks that saved the company from investing millions in an event that quickly went up in smoke.
Comcast Corp. chose not to invest about $25 million in Fyre Media Inc., the parent company of the failed Fyre Festival, days before it was set to kick off in the Bahamas, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The Philadelphia-based company sided against the investment that would have gone toward an app following a review that found that "the product didn't have the necessary technical capabilities to justify funding," an anonymous source told the news site.
The Fyre Festival, organized by singer Ja Rule and entrepreneur Bill McFarland, was hit with lawsuits last week after event-goers who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for a promised "once-in-a-lifetime" concert found that their vacation getaway wasn't equipped to host anyone at all.
Photos on social media of tents meant for guests to sleep in were compared to "FEMA" tents, while attendees expecting Stephen Starr catering instead were given slices of bread, cheese and salad packaged in Styrofoam boxes.
Fyre Media has been hit with multiple lawsuits, while a complaint was filed Thursday by the Delaware County-based National Event Services Inc. in Philadelphia federal court, according to Bloomberg.
The company, seeking $250,000, is accusing the festival of "breach of contract and fraud." National Event Services is an event services company that provides personnel across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.
After attendees took to social media to complain about the event's many failed promises last week, Ja Rule said on Twitter that he was "heartbroken" and that the Fyre Festival was "NOT A SCAM." He then went on to apologize but noted that the flop was "NOT [HIS] FAULT."
