It’s no secret that celebrities and influencers can earn tons of money with just a single post on Instagram. But did you know that they can also lose thousands of dollars for making the wrong call by posting questionable endorsements? Reality star-turned-model Kendall Jenner is now learning this the hard way.
Instagram Post Settlement
The 24-year-old member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan has reportedly agreed to pay $90,000 in a settlement for an Instagram post she made in promotion of the failed Fyre Festival three years ago.
For those out of the loop, Fyre Festival was an event marketed as a luxury music festival held in The Bahamas. Part of its promotion included hiring various social media influencers to post about the festival on their accounts.
As it turns out, Jenner was among the many influencers paid by the Fyre team to endorse the event. She specifically posted about how her brother-in-law Kanye West’s label would be one of the headliners to perform at the festival.
The model even included a promo code that would give people the chance to get into an afterparty at the festival. The post has since been deleted.
Paid Promotion
It was later on revealed that Jenner received $250,000 to make the aforementioned post. She was also given a bonus of $25,000 a few days after posting.
Her specific mention of the possibility of West performing at Fyre was seen as a demonstration of a lack of good faith on Jenner’s part, court documents said.
The same documents also showed how Billy McFarland, the man behind Fyre Festival, told influencers not to reveal to their followers that they were being paid to promote the event.
That said, Jenner isn’t the only one who went under fire for their involvement in the controversial festival. Model Emily Ratajkowski was also sued by lawyer Gregory Messer in the US Bankruptcy Court.
Fyre Festival Disaster
After being promised a three-day festival where they can watch famous musical acts while staying in luxury accommodations, people who paid to go to Fyre found themselves disappointed at the dismal conditions they saw when they arrived.
McFarland has since been charged with fraud and was sentenced to serve six years in prison. He is reportedly looking to be released soon as his asthma makes him vulnerable to the coronavirus.
The debacle has also been covered in two documentaries, Hulu’s ‘Fyre Fraud’ and Netflix’s ‘Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened’.