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Hulu beats Netflix to the punch with its own Fyre Festival documentary

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Petrana Radulovic is an entertainment reporter specializing in animation, fandom culture, theme parks, Disney, and young adult fantasy franchises.

Fyre Fraud, a documentary about 2017’s disastrous Fyre Festival, premieres today on Hulu. Promoted by social media influencers (who did not initially disclose they were paid to do so), the Fyre Festival was supposed to be a luxurious getaway to the Bahamas, but it ended up having no performers, horrible accommodations, and absolutely none of the luxury it promised.

From Emmy-nominated and Peabody-winning directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason, this documentary follows the events surrounding the Fyre Fest and calls itself a “true-crime comedy,” as it dives into the the powerful world of influencers and the cataclysmic effects their power holds. There’s also an “exclusive” interview with the man behind the Fyre Fest himself, convicted con Billy McFarland!

If Fyre Fraud sounds like a case of deja vu, that’s because another streaming platform has its own documentary about the Fyre Festival coming very soon — later this week, in fact. From Emmy-nominated director Chris Smith, this documentary, entitled Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, is set to premiere on Netflix this Friday. It also follows the events surrounding Fyre Fest, with exclusive input from its organizers.

As if a documentary about the Fyre Festival wasn’t a fascinating enough reflection on the nature of social media power and influence, the dueling tdocumentaries offer another take on the state of our times: the head-to-head competitive arena of the streaming giants.

Fyre Fraud is out today on Hulu. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is out on Netflix on Jan. 18.

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