Ja Rule Claims He Was 'Scammed' by FYRE Festival Team After Netflix, Hulu Documentaries Ignite Fresh Backlash

Ja Rule is continuing to deny any responsibility for the FYRE Festival disaster that defrauded hundreds of people, including ticket buyers and investors, in wake of renewed public interest due to documentaries that premiered on Hulu and Netflix last week.

The rapper and entrepreneur has previously taken credit as one of the visionaries behind the event, and the documentaries show he was by co-founder Billy McFarland's side throughout the planning process leading up to the failed island festival in the Bahamas. However, he made it clear in a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday that he does not think he was a part of the fraud that landed McFarland in prison for six years, and actually claimed he is another victim of the scam.

"I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER!!! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make???" he tweeted. "I NEVER MADE OR GOT PAID ONE DOLLAR FROM FYRE... BUT EVERYONE ELSE DID!!!"

In other tweets, he said he lost "PLENTY" of money himself and suggested McFarland "lied" to him, as well.

"I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!" he tweeted Sunday. Before that, he promised, "I will tell my truth real soon... AND I HAVE RECEIPTS!!!"

The Netflix documentary made TooFab's jaw drop on Friday when event producer Andy King said McFarland begged him to perform oral sex on a customs official demanding $175,000 to release imported drinking water. King was ready and willing to "take one big thing for the team," but said the official let him have the water on the promise the festival organizers would pay the fee after the event.

The documentary, titled "FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened," concluded with the revelation that the festival organizers left a lot of hired help high and dry after evacuating the island in a hurry in April of 2017. One Bahamian coordinator even had to flee the island because so many locals were approaching him to demand the payment they were promised. Maryann Rolle -- who runs Exuma Point Resort, where dozens of FYRE attendees were redirected to after landing on the island -- left quite an impression on viewers. She started sobbing when telling the filmmakers she lost her $50,000 lifesavings because McFarland and his team never reimbursed her for expenses.

She's finally getting some relief, though. Sympathetic viewers have contributed over $131,000 to a GoFundMe campaign Rolle launched a week ago.

It has been an unforgettable experience catering to the organizers of Fyre Festival. Back 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. Organizers would also visit my Exuma Point location to enjoy the prepared meals.

Fyre Fest organizers were also checked into all the rooms at Exuma Point Resort.

As I make this plea it's hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest.

My only resource today is to appeal for help.

There is an old saying that goes “bad publicity is better than no publicity” and I pray that whoever reads this plea is able to assist.

The founder of Jerry Media, the company that handled FYRE Festival's social accounts, said the agency donated its entire fee for the job to the crowdfunding campaign. "Just gave every dollar my agency earned from the Fyre Festival back to the go fund me. Others should do the same," Elliot Tebele tweeted Sunday evening. Records on the GoFundMe page show he contributed $20,000 and the company, formerly called F--k Jerry, donated $10,000.

Jerry Media also produced the documentary for Netflix, and staff members appeared in the film.

Meanwhile, there is no indication Ja Rule has donated any money to Rolle.

Instead, he claimed on Twitter he "NEVER EVEN MET THIS LOVELY WOMAN," and gave her a shoutout on Instagram. "My heart goes out to this lovely lady," he wrote. "MaryAnne Rolle we've never met but I'm devastated that something that was meant to be amazing, turn out to be such a disaster and hurt so many ppl... SORRY to anyone who has been negatively effected by the festival... Rule."

But before that, he retweeted a woman questioning why Rolle didn't at least secure a deposit from McFarland for her services. "I can't think of a single legitimate company that would not require at least a deposit for all that work," tweeted Martina Markota, and Ja Rule used emojis to indicate she was making a point worth thinking about.