Rapper Ja Rule aka Jeffrey Atkins has officially been dismissed from the $100 million class action lawsuit against him over his involvement in 2017’s epic fail, Fyre Fest. The festival’s chief marketing officer, Grant Margolin, was also dropped from the case however the class action lawsuit against founder, Billy McFarland, is still ongoing.
The two defendants, Ja Rule and Margolin, were originally dismissed in a July 10 verdict this summer, but the law firm, Geragos & Geragos that represents the plaintiffs, filed an appeal. Geragos & Geragos’ argument was a tweet from Ja Rule and new evidence from the Hulu as well as Netflix Fyre Fest documentaries suggesting that both defendants encouraged people to attend the doomed event despite their knowledge of the disastrous outcome.
The judge denied the plaintiffs’ appeal when they were unable to prove that they purchased tickets for Fyre Fest as a result of Ja Rule’s tweet promoting the April 27, 2017 festival. The judge also ruled that information obtained from the Fyre Fraud and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened documentaries couldn’t be used as new evidence since they were released six months prior to both of the defendants’ dismissals.
Ja Rule’s attorney, Ryan Hayden Smith, released the following statement:
“In July, the Court dismissed all Fyre Festival claims against Mr. Atkins. After this loss, plaintiffs’ law firm Geragos & Geragos appealed that decision, and the Court denied their appeal. This ruling is nothing short of a total vindication of Mr. Atkins.”
Source: Billboard
