INTERVIEW: Fyre Fest with Seth Crossno

Summary

Scams, Money & Murder: INTERVIEW: Fyre Fest with Seth Krosno

Episode Release Date: July 10, 2025
Host: Nicole Lapin (Vanessa Richardson)
Guest: Seth Krosno

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Scams, Money & Murder, hosted by Nicole Lapin of Crime House Studios, the spotlight shines on the infamous Fyre Festival through the firsthand experience of guest Seth Krosno. Seth’s unique perspective as an attendee who participated not as himself but as a satirical influencer offers listeners an insider’s view of the disaster that unfolded at what was promised to be the ultimate luxury music festival.

Seth’s Unique Approach to Fyre Festival (03:14)

Seth Krosno recounts how he decided to attend Fyre Festival under the guise of his internet persona, portraying a trust fund kid aspiring to be an influencer. This approach was meant to be a comedic take but inadvertently thrust him into the heart of one of the most notorious festival failures.

Seth Krosno: "I was sort of making fun of all of that kind of stuff. And then I was like, I need to, like, widen my audience a little if I'm actually going to make a living... So I was like, I'll be an influencer."

Initial Red Flags and Arrival (06:13)

Despite noticing early warning signs—such as vague promises about amenities and disorganized communication—Seth and his friends proceeded to Great Exuma, expecting minor growing pains typical of a first-time festival. However, upon arrival, the reality starkly contrasted the lavish promises.

Seth Krosno: "There was just somebody with like a little, I don't know, maybe 15 passenger van... And then you, you get to the site and you start seeing those tents... This isn't really ready."

Descent into Chaos (09:53)

As the festival failed to materialize as advertised, chaos ensued. Seth describes the lack of organization, absence of clear communication from the organizers, and the increasing desperation among attendees.

Seth Krosno: "There was no walking across the street here. There was no getting into Uber. And that was like kind of the scariest thing."

Escape Attempt and Legal Battle (15:14)

Amidst the turmoil, Seth and his friend Chris managed to secure a spot on a departing flight, marking their escape from the fragmented event. This experience propelled Seth into a legal battle against Billy McFarland, the festival’s creator.

Seth Krosno: "We were able to file our own suit... And that's why we went that route because a big class action lawsuit was gonna take five years and you'd get 17."

Ultimately, Seth and his co-plaintiff secured a $5 million judgment against McFarland. However, collecting this judgment remains an ongoing struggle, as McFarland's assets are currently tied up with substantial government judgments.

Seth Krosno: "We’re in the process of dealing with that. So we're in line behind them."

Broader Impact and Overlooked Consequences (22:02)

Seth emphasizes that while the media focused on the high-profile influencers scammed by the festival, the broader narrative omitted the plight of unpaid Bahamian workers and local businesses who suffered significant financial losses.

Seth Krosno: "Many workers didn't get paid to work on this festival... There was a $100,000 order of t-shirts... they didn't pay the bill."

Ongoing Reflections and Lessons Learned (32:17)

Reflecting on the Fyre Festival saga, Seth shares his realization about the deceptive nature of business operations and the ease with which scams can proliferate in today’s digital age.

Seth Krosno: "Everybody is just making it up as they go along... If you keep trying, you can do good stuff. You can also do bad stuff."

He underscores the thin line between ambition and deceit, highlighting the necessity for transparency and accountability to prevent such disasters.

Fyre Festival 2 and Continued Caution (28:40)

Years after the initial fiasco, Billy McFarland announced Fyre Festival 2, which sold out tickets, reigniting concern among those familiar with the original event. Seth expresses skepticism about the likelihood of a successful second attempt but acknowledges the persistent allure of the festival’s brand.

Seth Krosno: "What's the end game with this whole, like, Fire stuff? Because it's like, is Billy ever gonna give this up?"

Conclusion

Seth Krosno's harrowing yet insightful account of his experience at Fyre Festival serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of unchecked ambition and the importance of due diligence. His journey from a satirical influencer to a legal victor against a major scam highlights the multifaceted impact of financial fraud, affecting not just consumers but also local economies and individual livelihoods.

Seth’s continued advocacy and the ongoing legal processes underscore the enduring quest for justice and restitution for all those affected by the Fyre Festival debacle.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• [03:14] Seth Krosno: "I'll be an influencer."
• [06:13] Seth Krosno: "This isn't really ready."
• [09:53] Seth Krosno: "There was no walking across the street here."
• [15:14] Seth Krosno: "We were able to file our own suit..."
• [22:02] Seth Krosno: "Many workers didn't get paid..."
• [32:17] Seth Krosno: "Everybody is just making it up as they go along..."
• [28:40] Seth Krosno: "What's the end game with this whole, like, Fire stuff?"

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This episode not only revisits the infamous Fyre Festival but also delves into the broader implications of financial scams and their ripple effects across communities and individuals. Seth Krosno’s testimony sheds light on the unseen victims beyond the headline-grabbing influencers, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the true cost of such fraudulent endeavors.

Transcript

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi there, it's Vanessa Richardson. Crime House is your go to destination for the most gripping true crime shows. On my show, Killer Minds, join me and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels for two new episodes as we dive into the twisted story of the doctor Death serial killer Michael Swango. Craving more deep dives into the minds of the world's most dangerous killers. Follow Killer Minds on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen. This is Crime House.

[Seth Krosno]

It's like they're an established company, they know what they're doing, right? He looked at it and he was like, well, this is actually fraud. There were red flags, but it was all stuff that you could go. This is a first time festival. See what happens.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Fyre Festival was supposed to be this ultimate luxury experience. Private jets, gourmet food, beachfront villas, and Instagram influencers as far as the eye could see. We covered the story of the festival's creator, Billy McFarland in an episode in May of 2025. But what was it like for someone who was actually there? Our guest today, Seth Krosno, is a regular guy who decided to attend Fyre Festival not as himself, but as a satirical character. A trust fund kid trying to make it as an influencer. Little did he know this comedic bit would thrust him into the center of a very real disaster. Today he's here to share what it was really like to live through the most infamous festival that never was. Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.

[Seth Krosno]

Whoa. When did I get here? What do you mean? I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana Online. I must have time traveled to the future.

[Vanessa Richardson]

It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer.

[Seth Krosno]

It is the future.

[Vanessa Richardson]

It's. It's the present. And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.

[Seth Krosno]

It's all good.

[Vanessa Richardson]

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[Seth Krosno]

Thanks for having me.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Okay, so much to talk about. One of the things that I think really sets your experience at the Fyre Festival apart from so many others that we're planning on attending, is that you were going to attend not as yourself, but as your Internet Persona. Is that right?

[Seth Krosno]

That's correct. My friend Mark convinced me that I needed to go to this because Mark likes going to these things. And so he said, you can just do it as a joke and, like, it'll be, William Needham Finley IV is attending Fyre Festival, and you're, like, trying to become an influencer. I thought, okay, that's fine. Like, that's a funny thing we could do. The whole character was like a trust fund kid. Everybody's got like an inside the belt line. Every town has that sort of, like, old money crowd. And that's not who I am. I just am like a regular guy. But I was sort of making fun of all of that kind of stuff. And then I was like, I need to, like, widen my audience a little if I'm actually going to, like, make a living doing, you know, writing or entertaining. And so I was like, I'll be an influencer. Because that's like, around the time when everybody was like, it's influencer. You want to come to the influencer night? And I'm like, what is an influencer? Like, you just put it in your bio and now you're an influencer. So.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So that's basically what you did.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Richardson]

But what started as a joke quickly turned serious. Seth's live tweets from the ground as William Needham Finley IV quickly became one of the most reliable and immediate sources of information as the Fyre Festival collapsed.

[Seth Krosno]

It was wild. I don't think I comprehend it still. I mean, like, for reference, I would get 400,000 impressions or views on Twitter every month. And just the three or four days of Fyre Festival, it was like 55 million.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Wow.

[Seth Krosno]

I don't really know how to comprehend that, but it's pretty wild.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So how did that affect the way you use or you think about that Persona since then?

[Seth Krosno]

And now I was like, well, I might as well keep doing it. I really didn't know what to do with it, but I just. It was like my job. So I just, like, put out content that I think will make my friends laugh, and hopefully that will work. But I was still, at the same time, like, creating this whole ITB Insider kind of local satire news site at the same time.

[Vanessa Richardson]

When you say local, you mean local where you are in Raleigh?

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah, Raleigh, North Carolina. It was Just about things in town that I grew up in.

[Vanessa Richardson]

The world knew William Needham Finley iv. But back in Raleigh, North Carolina, few knew the man behind the character. So what happened when Seth's cover was finally blown?

[Seth Krosno]

I think maybe once the films came out, people like maybe recognized me more. But yeah, in the immediate, like, people I think found out, but I don't know, they didn't really know what I looked like because I wasn't really posting pictures of myself. People were aware of it. Some people were like, oh, okay, that makes sense. But I just sort of like kept going with it as if I was like, William Needham Finley building a media empire. And like, now I've got an intern and we've got to make content with him and, you know, just do stuff that I thought would be funny.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Okay, so let's go back in time. Were there any red flags before you got to Fyre Festival, before you got to Great Exuma?

[Seth Krosno]

There were red flags, but it was all stuff that you could go, this is a first time festival. We'll see what happens.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Like what?

[Seth Krosno]

You know, you'd get an email that said, fyre Festival is a chance to unplug. Like, don't bring your laptop, you don't need that. We'll have charging stations. And I was like, well, if the whole point of this is that I'm supposed to be like getting content and stuff, I'm going to bring a bunch of extra batteries because I don't want to stand in a line and like charge my phone. So that was sort of like a red flag. But again, you could be like, well, maybe that's their ethos, like Burning Man. You know, when that started, I don't think they had electricity, but like, we still thought there was electricity. There was just a lot of miscommunication around the flights or the booking process. But you'd email somebody and they'd answer you and you'd be like, okay, well, these are just first time people, whatever. So I guess I should have paid more attention to their red flags.

[Vanessa Richardson]

With the initial red flags easily dismissed as growing pains for a new festival, Seth and his friends arrived in Great Exuba, hopeful for the experience they had paid for. But what did the arrival actually look like?

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah, we kind of waited on the plane to take off. You know, you get on a plane, you expect some delay. But the whole thing, it was marketed as like, this was a chartered private flight. So you're like, do we really need to sit on the Runway for an hour? I don't know how these Things work. So. But we land, we go through the customs and everything, and then there's just somebody with like a little, I don't know, maybe 15 passenger van that just says, all right, come on. If you're going to Fire Festival, you just get. And you know, it's not like they were like marked things. We weren't on a school bus. We were just on a random little van. But then you, you get to the site and you start seeing those tents and you're like, okay, well, we got like a tent package villa thing. So maybe ours are, are like around the corner or something. Like, this can't be it, you know. And again, it was like the first day. Like, I think the official start of the festival was supposed to be the next day. And we're getting there, I guess, a day early. And it was supposed to start that night, I guess, but so we're still like, whoa, this isn't really ready. And then you get to this blue house that's just the only house on the property, and there's just a line of people, and we're like, what is going on here?

[Vanessa Richardson]

How much did you spend for your villa experience? Or what you thought would be all told?

[Seth Krosno]

It was about $4,000, I think, which would have been all the food, all the beverages, like alcohol included, festival pass for the whole time, you know, Was it five nights in the Bahamas? My flight down there and back. That's not insane when you add up, it's like, oh, five nights in the Bahamas, like, that's not crazy. Most people, I think the number that the media ran with was like $12,000 for a ticket, which, you know, that was an option, but I know people who got their tickets off of Groupon. So they paid 500 bucks, but yeah, we paid about 4,000. But that was to have everything included. We thought, all right, that's a good deal. Because if you show up and it's not included and you find out a beer's 20 bucks, that would suck.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Seth and his friends had paid handsomely for what they believed would be an all inclusive luxury villa experience. But as the hours passed, the scene at Great Exuma rapidly devolved from disorganized to outright dystopian. Seth, can you describe what that downward spiral looked like from your perspective?

[Seth Krosno]

We're in line and there are some people at this little check in table, and things are just sort of like. We're just kind of at a standstill. But then there are people bringing around tequila, asking people if they want shots and stuff. I'm Like, I'm good. Like, I feel like I should probably stay sober right now. And so Billy just got up on a sort of little table and stood on it, and people kind of surrounded him because we were all looking and like, all right, I guess we should ask this guy questions. And I'm like, isn't that the guy that started this thing? It's odd, but we go up and we're like, people are asking him, where's this? Where's that? And somebody said, where do you go if you've got the villa package or the whatever? And he just said, everybody just go find a tent. I think that's where it really just went downhill because everybody just kind of like made a mad dash to go get a tent. And then, you know, some of the tents did have, like, their numbers. So we get in a tent and some people show up an hour later. So they're like, hey, we're tent 72. We're like, oh, sorry, we'll go find another one. And then it's getting dark out and we don't really know where, like, anything is or where our luggage is. So then it was like, on to find the luggage, and then we're hungry. Where's the food? Like, there's no signs or anything. It's like, food is this way. You know, all it needed was like a camp counselor to be like, okay, guys, here's what's happening. But I don't think. I don't think Billy had what it took to. To do that.

[Vanessa Richardson]

What was the most surreal moment that made you realize this is more than just a mix up? This is a complete disaster. And when did you see that tent 72 was actually a FEMA tent?

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah, I guess I didn't really put two and two together that they were FEMA tents. They just kind of like looked like that, I guess. There was a bed and had sheets on it and a little, like, shelf made of, like, wood. And like, it was just so disorganized with the Amazon. Like pallets of Amazon boxes just dropped off and like, just lockers that were there. You know, there's just like. It just looked. It looks so disorganized. If we'd gotten here tomorrow, it still wouldn't even be close to ready. And so we thought, all right, we'll just find like an Airbnb or a hotel. And that did not exist. It was just packed that weekend.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So it's one thing to have a terrible experience. It's another thing to feel like you're in danger. So there Was no security, There were no medical tents. You mentioned the luggage. It was flying out of shipping containers. Was there any point on the first day that you felt like you were personally in danger?

[Seth Krosno]

I don't really know how to define danger. It just didn't feel really safe when it was dark outside and we had no idea where to go or what to do. And it's like, well, do we just stay in this tent or how do we leave? You know, if you're at, like, a bad event in New York City at Central park, you just walk across the street and you're fine. Like, there was no walking across the street here. There was no getting into Uber. And that was like kind of the scariest thing. It's like we're just here and nobody's telling us what to do or where to go. And it's starting to be pitch black. There's some generators with a few lights on them. But, like, it's just chaos. The whole rest of the story, it just keeps getting, like, worse and worse with what happened next.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So what's going on in your mind at that point as things are devolving quickly? You're not feeling like you're in danger just yet. But what's some of the unhinged behavior you started witnessing among the attendees during all the chaos?

[Seth Krosno]

I mean, I think a lot of people were just like, I gotta find my luggage, I gotta find a place to go. You know, there were some people I knew from Raleigh that were there and I bumped into to a friend and she's like, where's? I think we're going to stay here. Have you guys found a hotel? We're like, no. Mark's wife was like, calling hotels and Airbnbs and there was nothing. So they were like, yeah, we're just going to stay here. But we didn't know what we were going to do at the time. I thought, well, our friend Chris had made his way into the Blue House to go talk to somebody to try to get some answers. I don't know how he did that, but I just thought, well, I'll walk around and just take pictures and videos and stuff, because will be gone in an hour, right? Like, Chris will figure it out or something will happen. And if it gets really crappy, then I'll like go help out and quit being like a fake influencer, you know? But it's like, all right, it's 8 o', clock, 9 o'. Clock. I'll just go take some pictures of the stage. And just to me, it was still funny. I was sort of like, trying to be in character, like, I've got sand in my Cole Hans and like, oh, where's the music lineup? And just stuff that I thought my friends would think was funny. And then after a while, like, I think I was still doing an Instagram Live or something or Periscope, whatever it was back then. And my buddy Chris was like, we, we're going. And I was like, oh, okay. Like, I think it might even still be on the. The video, because I was just like, oh, all right. So I don't think I was being the best, you know, like Boy Scout or helper there, but thank. Thankfully Chris was.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So where were you going?

[Seth Krosno]

Somehow he had gotten into the house and was talking to Billy and one of Billy's employees and found out that there more flight that was going to leave. Because I think at some point earlier on, they just shut down incoming flights and maybe outgoing flights, but there was one that was going to leave, I guess, and we had to get on the manifest. So Chris had figured out how to get us on there. And he. He said it was literally just like Billy and this person on an Excel spreadsheet putting names and stuff. And so Chris got us on there, and then he said, we got to get out of here. There's some vans that are showing up. They're going back to the airport, so let's get on here. And, you know, I guess with a chartered flight or private flight, the manifest has to match up. Maybe any flight, the manifest has to match up with the people that are on the plane. And I guess people heard us or heard other people getting on this bus to the airport, and they went, oh, there's a plane out of here. And they all just kind of like got in these different little buses. So more people showed up to the airport than were on the manifest, and that eventually caused some problems.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So Billy was just like, get out of here if you can.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah. He was like, there's a plane, you know, if you want to stay, it'll be fine. We'll have some more flights tomorrow or something. But, you know, he's not communicating that to anybody. Like, the stage is up there blaring music. And like you saw in the Netflix documentary, the stage producer guy was like, they just kept telling me to turn the music up because it's just, you know, a facade of, like, it's fine, it's fine. Just listen to this, you know, pulsating music. It's fine. And not admitting, okay, this isn't what I thought it would be. I'm going to get up on stage, take the microphone, and tell people, hey, here's what's going on. There's a bus leaving. You need to check in with this person to get your name on the flight manifest. And if you were able to admit defeat and face reality, maybe you would have made the right choice and used actual tools at your disposal. A massive stage with a sound system that everyone could hear. But instead, you just, like, hid in a house and tried to get a few people on the flight out.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Amidst the chaos, a small window of opportunity opened for Seth and his friends to escape Fyre Festival. But even that journey wouldn't be simple. And the emotional toll was just beginning to set in. Seth, at that point, how were you feeling?

[Seth Krosno]

It was probably a mix of everything, but it didn't end there. Like, we just got to the airport and it was 11 o' clock at night. And then we were in the airport for an hour or two, and then it was like, okay, now you can get on the plane. All right, we're on the plane, and it's like 2 or 3 in the morning. The lights are still on. Like, I see that my tweets are starting to go viral. So I'm like a kid with his iPad, like, entertained. I can, like, respond to people. Oh, this is funny. Like, they're roasting us. I thought that was funny. And then, like, okay, now it's four. Now the lights are off, and now it's five. We have to get off the plane because the manifest doesn't match up with the people on the plane. So we're off the plane. We're standing on the tarmac. It's pitch blackout. All right, now we're going to get on one by one. We're going to check everybody off. Now it's like six in the morning. The pilot's like, oh, we've flown too many hours, or we've been on for too many hours. We need a new crew. So get off the plane, go back inside. Then you get, like, locked in, which I get. Like, the airport people were locking the doors because people just kept walking outside. Like, smoke a cigarette. And I don't think that's really safe when literally outside the doors is the Runway. This is what the rest of our life is. Finally getting into Miami at, like, 11 the next morning. I was like, okay, well, that was ridiculous. And it just never ended. It was just, like, calls and texts and people wanting interviews and stuff. And I was so delirious from lack of sleep, I just said yes to everything.

[Vanessa Richardson]

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[Seth Krosno]

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[Vanessa Richardson]

The Netflix and Hulu documentaries captivated the world, exposing the chaos of Fyre Festival. But Seth believes there's a much larger, darker story that's still largely untold, one that goes beyond what viewers saw on screen.

[Seth Krosno]

I mean, there's just, there's so much of the story. I mean, the director of, of the Netflix film Chris Smith, had said his original plan was to make like eight or 10 episodes. You know, there was enough footage and enough story there and that was just from the events into like 2019, early 2019 when the films came out. So like there's so much that has happened even since then. And I don't know if there's like one specific thing that I would want people to know. But you know, you could have done a much deeper dive if you had 10 episodes into like, here's another business venture that didn't turn out because it seems like there was a lot of dishonesty involved. It's like a repeat offender of just stupidity and scams. It's a lot.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So you Think the documentaries didn't go far enough in pulling the thread with what happened in the aftermath? Do you think there's an underrated lesson or an untold story that the documentaries or the media missed?

[Seth Krosno]

No, I think that the documentary, the Netflix documentary did a fantastic job because it was. Here's everything that has happened up until now. When we were putting this documentary out.

[Vanessa Richardson]

The public narrative largely centered around those who bought tickets. But Seth brings to light a deeper, more heartbreaking consequence. The unpaid Bahamian workers and local businesses who bore the brunt of the festival's failure.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I get the way it was portrayed in the media. It's a business, and their job is to get people to click. And the headline of a bunch of influencers spent $12,000 to go to a thing and they got scammed is going to get more clicks than, like, this. Many workers didn't get paid to work on this festival. And fortunately, there was a GoFundMe that was set up to help out. That one woman, Marianne, I think she needed like 120,000, and she got like 270,000 or something from people donating. So people got screwed. And there's also people in the states that got screwed. You know, there's the T shirt vendor that there was a $100,000 order of t shirts or masks or something. And, you know, they made the product and thought, this big festival places, $100,000 order, let me get on it. And then. Okay, well, they didn't pay the bill. So it's like, that happened a lot. And like I said, I just don't think that that is a catchy story compared to, like, rich influencers got screwed or fake rich influencers, in my case. Fake rich influencers. Yeah.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So, I mean, how did seeing their plight impact you personally to get involved in some of these efforts after the fact, to continue to talk about it, to continue to keep bringing attention to the different facets of this. The workers that got stiff, the small businesses that didn't get paid.

[Seth Krosno]

We didn't know any of this going into it. Was only in kind of working on that Netflix documentary that I saw, oh, he didn't pay this woman, and he didn't pay that crew, and he'd pay this. And so it was great. When Chris Smith had said that they're working with the GoFundMe people or the fundraising platform, whatever they used, we tried to let people know about that. But I don't know, anytime I do one of these interviews, I kind of try to, like, mention That, I mean, there's not really much you can do nearly 10 years later. But that is sort of like one of the worst parts of the festival.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Unlike many of the attendees who joined class action lawsuits, Seth and his friend decided to pursue an independent legal battle. It was a bold move. So I asked him what motivated him to do that.

[Seth Krosno]

Well, my friend and attorney, Stacy Miller, we got back and I think I had tweeted something at him like, as we were trying to leave. And I jokingly was like, you're going to be hearing from Stacy Miller, Fyre Festival. And this is before I knew that there was like legitimate legit fraud involved. And Stacy actually called me in the airport that morning because he, he woke up and saw that tweet and was like, where are you? Are you okay? And I was like, yeah, I'll call you when I get back. So he looked at it and he was like, well, this is actually fraud. And plane company had an office in North Carolina. So we were able to file our own suit and that's why we went that route because I mean, a big class action lawsuits gonna take five years and you'll get 17. So we did our own. It was Mark and I and yeah, we were able to get a, a five million dollar judgment against Billy.

[Vanessa Richardson]

That is a huge judgment. Is that what you were expecting?

[Seth Krosno]

No, I had no idea what, what to expect with all that. I've never, I've never done that process.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So it's been a few years since the lawsuit wrapped up. Has Billi paid you any of that five million dollar judgment?

[Seth Krosno]

No, we, we're in the process of dealing with that.

[Vanessa Richardson]

How do you deal with that?

[Seth Krosno]

There's like a whole steps you have to take to collect and all that kind of stuff. And then, you know, it doesn't help that I think Billy is the government $26 million right now. So we're in line behind them, you.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Know, I mean, do you think that this judgment is just going to be symbolic at the end of the day? Something that you can frame on the wall instead of cash in the bank?

[Seth Krosno]

You never know. I mean, I know. Yeah, it's, it's like an IOU and dumb and dumber. I mean, like, it's not. Yeah, we'll see if Billy somehow wins the lottery, you know, maybe we'll, we'll collect more than we're anticipating right now. But you know, it lasts for 10 years and you can extend it for another 10 years. So it's going to be there for a while.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Do you have reason to Believe or do you hold on to hope that you will see some of that money at some point?

[Seth Krosno]

I mean, you just never know. It's like basically a lottery ticket at this point. And I don't think about it. It's just like, that's a crazy thing that happened, and we'll see what happens.

[Vanessa Richardson]

At the trial, you described the festival as more than just a scam. It was fraud. Way over the top. I mean, given that, what do you think justice looks like to you beyond the dollar amount? Is it Billy held fully accountable in court, calling you, giving you a personal apology? Is there something beyond getting the money back that could make you feel right about what happened?

[Seth Krosno]

I think that, you know, him paying back the people that got screwed, that worked on the event would be great. I don't know the ins and outs of it, but I think all of his wages are being garnished or something like that. And just, like, making those people whole would be great. And, you know, there's investors, too. That $26 million is investors, and a lot of other people that gave him money that are owed money. And I hope that that gets resolved maybe over time. Yeah, I don't really know what else needs to happen with. With him. And, you know, he went to prison, and that's not fun.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Years after the Fyre Festival collapsed and his time in prison, Billy McFarland announced Fyre Festival 2. When you saw him announce Fyre Festival 2 in 2023, what was your initial honest reaction?

[Seth Krosno]

I mean, it was just like. Well, that's about right. Like, it had to happen at some point. You know, no surprises here. That's. It's about right.

[Vanessa Richardson]

As the tickets for Fire to actually sold out, shockingly to some people. Did any of those prospective attendees reach out to you for advice or a reality check?

[Seth Krosno]

Think so. I. I also just don't check my DMS at all anymore. So if you're listening to this and you DM me, I apologize. I just. I don't. I don't think anybody, to my knowledge, like, reached out to ask me anything. I know some people wanted, like, some media outlets and stuff, wanted quotes, and I just. I don't really care to be in the news about this anymore.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Well, thank you for talking about it with me. Is there anything that all of these outlets have seriously missed?

[Seth Krosno]

There's deep dives and, like, platforms like this where it's like, you're gonna do your research, you're gonna look into, like, what the actual crimes were, and then there's just, like, the. All right, Quick hits. We gotta get it out. They paid $12,000 and they're, they're just a bunch of influencers. All right, next story. You know, and like, but then also like, you know how it is. It's like, oh, did you hear that the island's for sale on fire. You know, it's like, let's milk this. Anything Fire Festival related? Like, I have Google alert set up for Fire Festival. And it's just every day like the Fire Festival of book talk, you know, like some event goes poorly and it's just the Fire Festival of Blank. So it will like forever be just associated with things that go wrong. Go wrong. Yeah.

[Vanessa Richardson]

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[Seth Krosno]

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[Vanessa Richardson]

Upfront payment of 45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month. Required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra. Cmno.com hi, I'm Karina Beamer, host of Morning cup of Murder, your daily true crime podcast. Yes, you heard me right. Daily true crime. Every day, Morning cup of Murder tells you a straightforward short form story about murder, true crime, cold cases, disappearances, serial killers, cults and more. And I do that all in under 15 minutes. With over three years of stories and over 20 million downloads, the Morning cup of Murder podcast has become a staple of so many people's daily routines. So why not add it to yours? Stream Morning cup of Murder everywhere. You listen to podcasts and remember, stay safe. Looking back, what was the ultimate lesson from the Fyre Festival saga? Well, for Seth, it's a surprising realization about the world of business and perhaps life itself.

[Seth Krosno]

I think that everybody is just making it up as they go along. That can be good, that can be bad. It obviously depends on, like, people's intent, but everybody's just making it up. Like, everybody that I have talked to, every company that I've worked with, it's like they're all just making it up. That big, like, influencer that did this or, like that media company that wanted to do that. It's like they're an established company. They know what they're doing. Right. I'm just a guy. And then you're like, okay. They have no idea what they're doing. So, like, everybody just has no idea what they're doing in. In every facet of everything. But, like, if you keep trying, you can do good stuff. You can also do bad stuff.

[Vanessa Richardson]

By the way, I agree. My time doing this show, I think that we are all making it up. A lot of people in business who have started companies, who run companies, there's a super fine line between the fake it till you make it and then something nefarious, and there's a lot of fake it till you make it. And I think the line comes when it turns out nefarious because there's always a choice there. There was always a choice for Billy to stay stuck in the blue house, hide from people, or to step on stage and be really honest and be really transparent.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And that's the difference, 100%.

[Seth Krosno]

It's like the culture of America is fake. It's he make it. Pull yourself up by bootstraps. You know, when I started my company, I'd answer the phone and say, hey, it's. This is Steve in sales. Oh, you want to talk to Jim and marketing? Let transfer you. And then it's just me being Jim and marketing. That's just America 101. It's fine if you're not doing it in a nefarious way, like you said. I mean, I had, like, legitimate, very successful people in business as I, like, started my media empire just this time. Yeah. Fake it till you make it. You know, you go. And I'm like, but I'm not faking anything. Like. Like, I'm doing all this stuff. I'm, like, putting out this work.

[Vanessa Richardson]

I think it's okay to fake it till you make it. We all have to some extent, I think it's not okay to hurt people in the process. And that's the difference. That crucial line between ambition and outright harm was ultimately where Fyre Festival imploded. And for you, Seth, like we mentioned earlier, it led to a Measure of accountability. A $5 million judgment.

[Seth Krosno]

Oh, for sure. Yeah. I just meant now. Now more than ever, it's easier for people that are going to be nefarious to do that. Like, it's so easy that it's, like, so much less work to put in into, like, building a website or doing this or that. Like, it's just a lot easier. But, yeah, I mean, we. You know, we got a $5 million judgment. It'd be great if, you know, that was, like, applied to the people that got screwed out of, like, hard work and money and product and all that.

[Vanessa Richardson]

If you ever got any of that judgment, would you share it with some of those people?

[Seth Krosno]

Absolutely. Yeah. It's not, like, money that we're relying on, so it will literally be like winning the lottery.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And, I mean, I don't know if it's, like, winning the lottery, you have a full judgment.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah. Yeah, maybe. I. I don't. I don't know. I'm, like, so close to this story that I don't really, like, have a grasp on. It would be wonderful to. To help find people that, you know, still need to be paid back, you know? But that's also Billy's job.

[Vanessa Richardson]

What do you think his job is? What do you think his responsibility?

[Seth Krosno]

I mean, his job is to, like, pay back the people. I'd love to help, but also, I didn't do all of that stuff. It'd be nice to help, but I. It's like, I want the person who caused all of this to pay the people back.

[Vanessa Richardson]

But years later, the Fyre festival saga continues to unfold. With Billy McFarlane now out of prison and able to produce new iterations of the festival, A fundamental question hangs in the air for many of those involved, including Seth.

[Seth Krosno]

What's the end game with this whole, like, fire stuff? Because it's like, is Billy ever gonna give this up? But what does that really have to do with me? I don't know.

[Vanessa Richardson]

I think it has a lot to do with you. I think you were a victim of Fyre Festival, and if you continue to use your voice and you continue to remind people, because sometimes we forget, and the news cycle is really fast, and maybe this new generation didn't follow all the ins and outs of the first one. And so there's a whole other cohort of potential victims that could fall for the same thing all over again. History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Yeah, sounds like we got somewhere.

[Seth Krosno]

You're re.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Energized. Remissionized.

[Seth Krosno]

Should we throw our own festival can we do a scams money murder festival?

[Vanessa Richardson]

I mean, I think if we did, we would at least have snacks. I'm like, brand new mom. I'm like, I want to feed everybody. There's no chance that a festival I threw would not have snacks at least.

[Seth Krosno]

I've wanted to do a con. Con, like comic con, but it's cool. Con artists and like podcast. Maybe podcasts about con artists. There's. There's a lot of them. We could. We have panels. What not to do.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So you think there should be a whole show about financial con artists? Tell me more.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah, I think you're onto something.

[Vanessa Richardson]

It's true. I mean, there are a lot of cautionary lessons, but the reason we have so many episodes is because people don't learn from the cautionary tales.

[Seth Krosno]

It's exactly right.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And it's really easy to prey on people's insecurities, and especially around money. There's a lot of manipulation. There's a lot of psychological tactics.

[Seth Krosno]

Where would you rank this out of, like, all the things that you've covered?

[Vanessa Richardson]

Well, it's a scam. It involved money, but to be fair, it didn't cause bankruptcies and sort of Madoff style destruction, and nobody died. Grander scams money, murder scale, I would rank it as pretty innocuous.

[Seth Krosno]

Okay.

[Vanessa Richardson]

But also kind of hilarious.

[Seth Krosno]

But funny. That's what I was gonna say, but funny.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And I do appreciate that you have leaned into that and you have found the humor and the ability to laugh at yourself and keep it into perspective that nobody died. I don't think anybody got hurt unless I missed it. Seriously hurt.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Nobody lost a limb. Nobody went bankrupt. Nobody lost their life savings.

[Seth Krosno]

Oh, some people did, but who? The investors. Like, there was some one couple up in, I think New Jersey or New York, they'd put like their whole retirement, like $180,000 or something, and given it to fire or Fire Media or something, and it's gone.

[Vanessa Richardson]

That sucks. And that breaks my heart.

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah. And that's the problem with like these stories. Like, the plan of 10 episodes of a documentary would have gotten into some of that kind of stuff. There are a lot of people in that. I mean, this. I don't know if he will show this on the screen, but, like, this is just the bankruptcy filing.

[Vanessa Richardson]

His bankruptcy filing?

[Seth Krosno]

Yeah. I mean, his company was forced into bankruptcy and then it was like the creditors, or debt, whatever they're called, had to submit their stuff.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So what number are you on the list?

[Seth Krosno]

I don't think we're in that thing. Because this is like related to like Fire Media or something like that or Fyre Festival, I can't remember.

[Vanessa Richardson]

So the judgment was against him personally. Yeah, I do appreciate that you're able to laugh about this and able to continue to shed light if for nothing else but for the sweet couple that lost a lot of their life savings investing in this guy. So Seth, thank you so much for being here today and sharing your story with us.

[Seth Krosno]

Thank you for having me.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Foreign thank you so much for listening. I'm your host Nicole Lapin Scams, Money and Murder Is a Crime House Original Join me every Thursday for a brand new episode here at Crime House. We want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support. If you like what you heard here today, reach out on all social media rimehouse and don't forget to rate, review and follow Scams, Money and Murder wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And for ad free listening plus early access and bonus content, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. Scams, Money and Murder is hosted by me, Nicole Lapin and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. My guest today was Seth Krosno. This episode was brought to life by the Scams, Money and Murder team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Venidon, Stacey Warrenker, Sarah Kamp, and Paul Libeskin.

[Seth Krosno]

Warning the following ZipRecruiter radio spot you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words when you're hiring.

[Vanessa Richardson]

We at ZipRecruiter know you can feel frustrated, forlorn even, like your efforts are futile and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine. Fortunately, ZipRecruiter figured out how to fix all that and right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip with ZipRecruiter you can forget your frustrations because we find the right people for your roles fast, which is our absolute favorite F word. In fact, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Fantastic. So whether you need to hire four, 40 or 400 people, get ready to meet first rate talent. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com and zip to try ZipRecruiter for free. Don't forget that ZipRecruiter.com zip Finally, that ZipRecruiter.com Zip hi there, it's Vanessa Richardson. Crime House is your go to destination for the most gripping true crime shows. On my show, Killer Minds, join me and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels for two new episodes as we dive into the twisted story of the doctor Death serial killer Michael Swango. Craving more deep dives into the minds of the world's most dangerous killers? Follow Killer Minds on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen.