A man once threw a Wolf of Wall Street-style party at an Airbnb… and he ended up getting sued for a huge amount of money.
Everyone these days seems to use Airbnb when wanting to get away for a few (or more) days. And while the company is at the height of its popularity, some major changes are being made.
For instance, Airbnb has rolled out ‘anti-party technology’ across Australia, meaning it’s now virtually impossible to throw a party of any kind while staying at an Aussie Airbnb. But this isn’t the first time Airbnb has waged war on parties.
A few years ago, one man – Brett Barna, a former portfolio manager at Louis Bacon’s Moore Capital Management – faced a US$1 million lawsuit because of a party he threw at an Airbnb. Intrigued? We bet you are.
Well, Barna hosted an all-day 4th of July pool party back in 2016 at a $20 million mansion located in the Hamptons – which he rented off Airbnb for US$27,000. And the party was wild; at the time, images and footage from Barna’s party went viral and it soon became known as ‘#Sprayathon’.
Apparently, bikini-clad women danced the night away, midgets roamed around while toting ‘champagne guns’ and rapper Ace Hood performed to the 500+ guests in attendance.
But according to Omar Amanat, the owner of the mansion, Barna and his guests completely trashed the property too. And while Barna told Amanat he was renting the mansion specifically for a get-together, he allegedly lied about the nature of the party. Speaking to Page Six, Amanat said:
“Brett [Barna] came to me dropping Louis Bacon’s name and saying he was a big deal with the Robin Hood Foundation. He said there would be 50 people at the event and it was [a fundraiser] for animal rescue. But the only animals there were the people, a thousand of them.”
“They drowned themselves in champagne, they had midgets they threw in the pool, they broke into the house, trashed the furniture, art was stolen, we found used condoms. So many people were there that the concrete around the pool crumbled and fell into the water. It was like Jersey Shore meets a frat party.”
Apparently, so much damage was done, Amanat planned to sue Barna for a cool million. “We are preparing a massive lawsuit . . . We’re waiting to serve him,” the Hamptons homeowner said.
After much digging, it’s unclear whether Amanat – who was shockingly arrested by the FBI for unrelated fraud charges a few weeks after the party – actually did sue Barna. We’re betting no, as Barna did eventually come forward and told The New York Times that the party was just “good clean fun” that “raised money for charity… Nothing illegal happened and no one complained.”
Barna did get fired from Moore Capital Management after #Sprayathon caught the attention of his superiors though. The company said in a statement, “Mr Barna’s personal judgment was inconsistent with the firm’s values. He is no longer employed by Moore Capital Management.”
Yikes. You’ve probably never had a hangover as bad as the one Barna got after his now-infamous Airbnb party…
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