"The Influencer Fyre Fest" — Tik Tok Influencers Paid $2,000 For Tickets To A Fashion Brand's Coachella Event, End Up In Empty Parking Lot Passing Out From Heat Exhaustion
"Okay so, hear me out: Coachella...but more obnoxious."
"I love it. It might actually be *too* awesome. How do we keep numbers reasonable? Capacity is 1 million."
"Exclusivity: we only invite influencers."
"..."
"And we charge $2,000 a ticket, minimum."
"Done. Take this book on event planning and organization by Billy McFarland, treat it like the Bible. I'll call Ja Rule."
What Revolve Festival's financial backers see:
Vivien Killilea. Getty Images.
Vivien Killilea. Getty Images.
Rodin Eckenroth. Getty Images.What Very Important Tik Tok Influencers see:
Photos from this weekend's Revolve Festival show smiling influencers in trendy outfits, posing in front of picture-perfect scenes — but according to some who had invites, the experience wasn't quite as glamorous as images indicate.
Several attendees at the event, which played host to several celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Halsey, and Kendall Jenner, have complained of 'poor transportation' and 'bad management,' saying that they were stranded in a parking lot for hours waiting for shuttles that didn't come.
Antsy ticket-holders were left hot and dizzy with no water, leading to several allegedly passing out.
Some complained of 'pushing, shoving, and shouting' as influencers fought for spaces on buses when they finally did arrive - prompting comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival and the dystopian Hunger Games series. (Daily Mail)
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In fairness to Revolve Festival, it seems from all evidence that Fyre Fest is more of a framing point for "the terrible execution of a terrible concept" than it is a direct apples-to-apples comparison — there have been no images of moldy bread sandwiches, and not a single FEMA tent in sight, at least to my knowledge. Just a handful of heat exhaustion and dehydration cases and a whole lot of bruised egos it looks like. Nothing a bottle of water and a re-evaluation of life priorities won't heal in time.
But the direct comparison they DO share is massive failure on a huge scale resulting in a very disgruntled and very Online army of opinionated people who live for two things, experiences they can show off for status, and mobilizing followers to ruin the entire existence of anyone who crosses them. I'm not in the industry but I believe this could be what you call bad for the brand.
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Now in its fifth year — with a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic — Revolve Festival has its own musical performances, as well as countless expertly-crafted photo ops.
But the journey to get there was far from picture-perfect, according to some who have spoken out.
Los Angeles Magazine’s Joseph Kaps broke the news on Twitter on Saturday, writing that there was 'drama going down at Revolve Festival' which 'sinks to level of Fryre Festival.'
'Influencers stranded in the dirt with no water, under the hot sun for HOURS, waiting for buses that aren't coming to bring them to actual festival,' he wrote, saying that there were 'alleged fights, screaming, [and] everyone is dizzy.'
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I've read Dante's Inferno but I've never seen actual video footage from one of the circles of Hell before:
'Security had crowds of influencers yelling how "important they were and why they deserved the first seat,"' he continued.
He described 'chaos,' quoting a security guard who said: 'I don't know who the F these people are. I don't who is actually important and who is lying, or if any of them are important.'
Accounts soon began coming in from influencers who were there — but never actually made it to the festival, giving up after hours of waiting.
Another very important distinction to make between Fyre Fest and this — lest you start to form the wrong opinion while watching them shout their follower-based Levels of Importance at a bus driver in order to demand the seat on the bus they deserve, these music-loving Influencers are NOT entitled at all. And that comes straight from a primary source:
TikToker Hannah Kosh confirmed, saying: 'You guys, it was all of that and more. People were raiding the buses. The bus drivers refused to come back. I saw three people pass out in line myself. Wild.'
Another TikToker, Kristi Howard, said she flew in from Nashville with her boyfriend to attend the event, but never got inside.
'Waiting 5 hours in line like we were told didn’t get us anywhere thx to great security & organized transportation,' she said.
'Now I love Revolve, everything I wear is Revolve, but Revolve Festival was a sh**show, it was a disaster,' she went on.
Kristi insisted she's 'not entitled at all,' but there was 'poor transportation, communication, and bad management' that ruined the experience.
Of course, it shouldn't matter. A crisis is a crisis. Whether it's a refugee sharing the tragedy and terror of their escape from a war-torn homeland, or a Tik Toker dropping $2,000 of disposable income to see Jack Harlow while wearing neon glitter paint as a shirt…they are human beings who have been through hell and deserve our empathy.