A GoFundMe For The Restaurant Owner In The "Fyre" Documentary Has Surpassed Its Target

    Maryann Rolle, a restaurant owner on the Exuma islands in the Bahamas, said she lost $50,000 of her savings following the failed festival. A GoFundMe spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the fundraiser is legitimate.

    Scott Bryan
    by Scott Bryan

    BuzzFeed TV Editor

    One of the most memorable moments of the intoxicating Fyre documentary on Netflix, which details the disastrous 2017 music festival, was Maryann Rolle, a restaurant owner on the Exuma islands in the Bahamas, and her testimony.

    Netflix

    Rolle said that in the weeks leading up to the festival, she was forced to cater for more than 200 workers with just 10 staff members, around the clock.

    Netflix

    On the GoFundMe page, which was launched to coincide with the documentary, Rolle said: "In April 2017 I pushed myself to the limit catering no less than a 1000 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all prepared and delivered by Exuma Point to Coco Plum Beach and Roker’s Point where the main events were scheduled to take place."

    She claimed that not only did the organisers eat the prepared meals, they also checked themselves into all of the rooms at Exuma Point Beach Resort.

    However, Rolle said, she was never paid by Fyre Festival. Since her staff needed the money, Rolle lost more than $50,000 of her own savings.

    Netflix

    Her testimony has resulted in an outpouring of love for Maryann and many wishing that her money could be returned.

    Joshua Webb @jdub1230

    Somebody needs to start a GoFundMe for the Bahamian restaurant owner that got screwed by the #FyreFestival. #FyreFraud.

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    Ashley Ortiz @Amcdoodle715

    Can we please start a GoFundMe for the Bahamian woman scammed by the Fyre Festival. She is the only person in this entire scam I really felt for.

    Reply Retweet Favorite
    Kaya Thomas @kthomas901

    The only thing I care about after watching the #FyreFestival documentary is the Bahamian locals who were overworked & never paid and Maryann Rolle who put $50,000 of her savings to pay the workers at her restaurant who manned the event.

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    Now, just three days since the Netflix documentary debuted, a GoFundMe for Maryann has reached and exceeded its target of $123,000.

    GoFundMe

    Representatives for Netflix and GoFundMe have both confirmed the campaign's authenticity.

    A spokesperson for GoFundMe told BuzzFeed News: "This has been an incredible outpouring of support for the workers affected by the Fyre festival. As ever, we’ll be working with the organisers and beneficiaries to make sure the money gets to the right place.”

    Netflix

    Ja Rule, who was involved in organising the festival, has also apologised. In an Instagram post, he wrote: "I’m devastated that something that was meant to be amazing, turn out to be such a disaster and hurt so many ppl."