Thanks to the mischievous antics of a luxury real estate agent, many Coachella-goers this past weekend accidentally posted photos to Facebook of the good times they were having at Rami Atherton. That's right. In what seems to be a preposterous scheme, the real estate agent—Mr. Atherton—set up a public group called "Coachella — Weekend 1." According to The Hollywood Reporter, posts with this geotag then displayed Atherton's name as the location. It's a confusing trick that seems bound to generate a lot of frustration to go along with the free publicity. In fact, Atherton told THR that he had to disconnect the group after people started (understandably) throwing obscenities his way.
An agent for Nourmand & Associates, Atherton "specializes in representing sellers, property and luxury condos located in the Platinum Triangle of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills," according to his bio. It also says that "Los Angeles, Real Estate & Design inbreed in his DNA." Well then.
Strangely, Atherton says this has all been one big misunderstanding. He claims he simply didn't realize his group was public—though it's unclear who he was hoping would privately make use of it. Regardless of whether or not the mixup was intentional or not, Atherton seems to have found the whole thing amusing enough to proudly tweet a link to the Hollywood Reporter/Billboard article on his personal twitter account.
Coachella 2016: Beware The Real Estate Agent Hijacking Your Festival Feed https://t.co/hRFcw9oEM6
— Rami Atherton (@RamiAtherton) April 19, 2016
- Beware the Real Estate Agent Hijacking Your Coachella Feed [Hollywood Reporter]
- Finding a Real Estate Agent You Can Work With [Curbed LA]
- Coachella Promoters Planning Old People Coachella [Curbed LA]