LimeWire acquires infamous Fyre Festival to rebrand its future
The internet’s favorite disaster has a new owner, LimeWire. Can they turn Fyre into something real?
Two of the internet’s most notorious names are joining forces. LimeWire, once associated with pirated music downloads, has purchased the rights to the infamous Fyre Festival brand in a move the company says is designed to “own the meme” and turn scandal into opportunity.
The deal was sealed in September 2025 through an eBay auction, with LimeWire outbidding Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort and several other contenders. The final price came in at just over $245,000, a relatively modest sum for a name that still commands headlines years after its chaotic downfall.
Fyre Festival first captured global attention in 2017, when luxury villas and gourmet catering in the Bahamas were promised but disaster ensued instead: stranded festivalgoers, leaky disaster-relief tents, and the now-iconic cheese sandwich photo that went viral. Lawsuits followed, along with jail time for founder Billy McFarland, and the festival’s name became shorthand for spectacular failure. Two documentaries cemented its infamy, while a mooted “Fyre Festival II” never got off the ground.
LimeWire, meanwhile, has been working to reinvent itself. After being shut down in 2010 following years as the poster child for music piracy, it re-emerged in 2022 as a digital collectibles and content platform. By acquiring Fyre Festival, LimeWire says it has no intention of repeating the fiasco that made the brand infamous. Instead, it wants to lean into the meme value while reimagining Fyre as something tongue-in-cheek yet credible.
The company has already hinted at what’s to come. Exclusive merchandise is in the works, and a waitlist has been opened for fans who want early access to updates. LimeWire is also exploring “real-world experiences” tied to the brand, though specifics remain vague. The company’s leaders have stressed that any revival will be self-aware, acknowledging the festival’s disastrous past while building something sustainable and transparent.
Still, the challenge is considerable. For many, Fyre Festival is not just a joke but a painful memory, especially for the workers and attendees who lost money and time. LimeWire will need to tread carefully to avoid accusations of exploiting that history for profit.