Disastrous Bamboozle New music Pageant Starring Limp Bizkit Implodes a Week Out

Just days just before Limp Bizkit, Rick Ross, and Papa Roach were being established to consider the stage, a single of New Jersey’s ideal regarded music festivals imploded on Friday after its organizer was accused of hoodwinking and cyberbullying fed-up enthusiasts.

Bamboozle, launched in 2002 by John D’Esposito, held marketed-out festivals in the Back garden Condition for 10 yrs, that includes functions like Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters, till a dispute between organizers in 2012 put it on ice.

This yr was intended to be a large comeback—but cracks started out to appear from the get-go.

When expensive “early bird” tickets to start with went on sale, D’Esposito inspired supporters to invest in early, boasting that ticket price ranges would bounce as extra big names were being declared. “The lineup is stacked,” he promised on Instagram.

But that never ever materialized, with subsequent announcements slipping flat and promises of other major-identify artists evaporating. Relatively than having extra high priced, ticket selling prices fell.

Followers who’d paid nearly $400 for three-working day passes complained about bogus advertising and marketing and demanded refunds, going so considerably as to start an Instagram webpage identified as Scamboozle that reported its purpose was to “expose the fraud that is Bamboozle Festival” and assist prospects get refunds.

But D’Esposito only dug in, blocking or cyberbullying people who complained on the internet, and hurling insults like “jackass,” “dork,” “donkey” and “f’n clowns.” (D’Esposito insisted to the Philadelphia Inquirer that it was “tongue in cheek.”)

When a single person named a lackluster line-up announcement “fucking trash,” Bamboozle’s formal Instagram site replied, “Noooo. Nooo. UR.”

When yet another known as the whole ordeal “horrible,” the festival replied, “I know you are but what am I. Glance at on your own. Your arguing about a competition no a single wishes you at clown!”

By very last month, D’Esposito admitted to NJ.com that he’d sold just 6,000 tickets inspite of previously recommendations that it was nearer to 50,000.

Then the loss of life knell arrived on Friday when Atlantic Town officers reported they would not be issuing permits for the event immediately after organizers unsuccessful to pay licensing and facility service fees, and blew by means of deadlines to give needed paperwork like coverage certificates, and unexpected emergency evacuation and healthcare programs.

“There was an ongoing concern that we were being not getting the needed files from pageant organizers in a timely way,” Atlantic Town Small business Administrator Anthony Swan mentioned in a assertion. “We questioned for this information and facts months in progress to shield the town and the taxpayers of Atlantic Town. The occasion was speedy approaching, and these difficulties were even now unresolved.”

Pageant organizers posted a quick assertion on their web-site Friday, acknowledging that the occasion was canceled.

“After substantial conversations, we have produced the heartbreaking determination to cancel Bamboozle 2023,” the statement go through. “An amazing volume of time, commitment, passion and challenging perform was invested into producing this comeback a achievement. We enjoy absolutely everyone who supported this pageant. Refunds must be asked for at point of purchase.”

It has still left quite a few out of pocket, including one particular cannabis seller who claimed he forked in excess of $10,000 for a booth and was having difficulties to get a keep of anybody to prepare a refund. “I have a person small CBD keep in North Carolina, and $10,000 will definitely break me,” Nick Richetti informed the Press of Atlantic Town.

Some others flooded the Scamboozle page to share specifics of their determined, but unsuccessful, makes an attempt to get refunds.

“Bamboozle was home to me when I was a child. It was in my backyard, and I was in higher faculty wondering I was performing the coolest sh*t in the environment,” a single ticketholder wrote. “I obtained tickets for [me and my girlfriend] to revel in the nostalgia of our initially situations with each other, as properly as all individuals healthful instances back in high school… My anniversary weekend with my cherished one is shaping up to be a big failure, with a $1000 value tag on it.”