Ja Rule sells Fyre Festival painting for $122,000 in cryptocurrency
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Ja Rule is turning trash into treasure.
The platinum-selling hip-hop star, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, has reportedly auctioned off a portrait of the Fyre Media logo for $122,000 through the rapper’s non-fungible tokens venture, KickFlip, which offers established and up-and-coming artists, and holders of valuable art, the opportunity to monetize their work by using cryptocurrency.
The 48-x 60-inch oil-paint portrait was created by Tripp Derrick Barnes and relocated to Ja Rule’s New Jersey mansion when Fyre Media’s New York headquarters shuttered, according to Complex.
“One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you cannot change,” Ja Rule, 44, wrote on Instagram with an image of the artwork.
The 2017 Fyre Festival, which he co-founded, led to a series of events that resulted in co-founder and promoter Billy McFarland receiving a six-year prison sentence for defrauding festival goers of $26 million.
Hundreds paid up to $100,000 for tickets, gourmet food and luxury housing accommodations for the botched outing meant to stretch over two weekends in the Bahamas. Instead, attendees were left stranded on an island after arriving to find an incomplete site, sandwiches on paper plates, tents for accommodations and very few staff.
The Fyre Festival also failed to deliver promised appearances and performances from Migos, Blink-182, Kendall Jenner and more.
Both Hulu (“Fyre Fraud”) and Netflix (“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”) released documentaries chronicling the disastrous event.
During a $100 million class-action lawsuit against McFarland and others involved in the infamous event, the gravely voiced Murda Inc. rapper was cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter.
In 2011, the “Always On Time” lyricist was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon.
The Queens native was released from prison early in May 2013 and has since wrote a memoir, “Unruly,” and starred in a family-based reality show, “Follow the Rules” on MTV.
