Arguably the most famous cheese sandwich of all time will now be forever memorialized as a coveted NFT.
Starting Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET, photographer Trevor DeHaas’ widely revered 2017 tweet showing a photo of a Fyre Fest struggle meal—which featured a cheese sandwich paired with a near-fistful of greens and tomatoes—will be available as an NFT via (you guessed it!) Ja Rule’s Flipkick platform.
Whoever ends up being the lucky buyer of DeHaas’ original tweet will receive a transfer of copyright ownership enabling them to monetize the IP. Proceeds from the sale, meanwhile, will go toward DeHaas’ medical expenses for daily dialysis and an eventual kidney transplant.
For more info on the auction, which is set to end on April 24, click here. Accurately, the NFT is touted on the auction page as an example of a “cultural touchstone.”
Not only did DeHaas’ tweet arrive quite early in the discourse surrounding the Fyre Fest saga, which began with the promise of a luxury festival experience featuring everyone from Pusha-T to blink-182 and ended in unbridled mayhem, but the central cheese sandwich snapshot has remained a frequently utilized meme-improver for four years straight.
Speaking with Complex on Tuesday, DeHaas said he now has a “totally different perspective” on his 2017 tweet than he did amid the initial Fyre fuckery.
“Initially the viral tweet came with a lot of negative connotations and assumptions about me; rich-spoiled-clout chasing-millennial-brat,” DeHaas told Complex via email. “People assumed I paid $12,000 for a ticket and that I cared about going to the festival. The reality is that I went for free and I originally turned down the $500 ticket from my friend, Matt, who bought a group package. 8 people [for] $4,000. Matt wasn’t able to get rid of his remaining ticket and offered me the ticket for free. In exchange I would film a music video for his band, Hypothetical, at the festival. I remember thinking, ‘3 days in the Bahamas, what’s the worst that could happen?’ LOL.”
Given the nature of the initial response to the tweet, DeHaas explained, he first felt “embarrassed” about it and “sort of resented it.” However, he’s since embraced it, particularly in light of the unique place Fyre Fest now holds in pop culture at large.
“You can’t talk about Fyre Fest without talking about the infamous cheese sandwich and I’m kinda proud of that in a weird way,” he said. “If I had the option to go back and do Fyre all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe I would have packed extra food if I knew what I was going to be served for dinner.”
DeHaas also expressed optimism about the future of the NFT space.
“I’m a big believer in the future of cryptocurrency so naturally I think NFTs are a great idea,” he said.
Asked about his relationship with Ja, DeHaas joked that he’s still holding out hope for a proper five-star dinner.
“I’ve never met Ja in person so I can’t say we are close but I don’t have any negative feelings toward the guy,” DeHaas said. “I can’t lie, I did at first, especially the first day of the festival. However, that was before I heard his side of the story. I truly believe he too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, and hoodwinked just like all of the guests and local staff were. I’m hoping one day I actually get to share a 5-star dinner with Ja lol.”
Previously, Ja Rule sold a Fyre Festival painting as an NFT on his Flipkick platform for $122,000. The original oil painting was crafted by Tripp Derrick Barnes and had been commissioned by Ja in celebration of the founding of Fyre Media and the soon-to-be-notorious Fyre Festival experience. When releasing the painting as an NFT, Ja offered the following commentary:
“Fuck this painting.”
