Party start-up brothers ran ‘drug raves for teens’: Siblings behind collapsed $800M festival firm were exposed for running all-night over 16s events where dealers sold MDMA
- Drugs were taken by teens young as 14 at a club night, an investigation revealed
- The Let’s Go Crazy (LGC) was a club night in London branded as a safe night out
- It was run by two brothers behind a collapsed $800 million events start-up
- The Negus-Fancey brothers’ high-profile business went under in August
- LGC said at the time it treated ‘all allegations of substance abuse seriously’
The brothers behind a collapsed $800 million events start-up have been exposed for running over-16 club nights in the UK where drugs including MDMA were used by children as young as 14.
The Let’s Go Crazy (LGC) youth club night was marketed as a safe night out for teens in venues across London between 2008 and 2012, but an investigation has revealed drug use by young attendees.
An LGC event at The Coronet in south London in 2012 was found to have a number of the 2,400 teenagers there supplying and taking hard drugs.
The club nights were run by Callum and Liam Negus-Fancey, whose multi-million dollar marketing firm Pollen went bust seemingly overnight in August, owing millions to vendors and customers in unpaid refunds.
Callum (right) and Liam (left) Negus-Fancey, aged 32 and 29 respectively, saw their $800 million marketing start-up go bust earlier this year
The Let’s Go Crazy Club Night was marketed as a safe night out for teenagers in London
The brothers’ peer-to-peer marketing firm StreetTeam, Pollen’s parent company, appeared to go from strength to strength – thanks in part to a cash injection from the UK government’s Future Fund, supported by British taxpayers.
By 2020, they were not only selling tickets to other festivals but putting on their own events at big-name venues like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort in Mexico.
By 2022, the Negus-Fancey brothers had raised more than $200million from venture capitalists, but the business suddenly collapsed earlier this year.
The brothers were embroiled in another scandal in 2012 after an undercover BBC investigation into the LGC club nights exposed drug-taking by teenagers.
LGC organisers announced two days before the event that security would be tighter than usual.
When a BBC journalist asked a promoter why, they responded: ‘Can you imagine how many people will be on drugs!
‘Also if you need any you can get inside, because inside there will be a lot of ppl with drugs haha.’
Filming from outside the venue also showed stewards with LGC ID cards telling youngsters who admitted to having MDMA to ‘get rid of it’ as the teens said they were worried about getting caught by the police.
(Stock Image) Around 2,400 people turned up to the youth night out in 2012 where drugs were being taken by teens
Singer Justin Bieber performs at XS Nightclub as part of a three day experience by Pollen in 2021
By 2022, the Negus-Fancey brothers had raised more than $200million from venture capitalists (pictured The Vamps performing at a Pollen event)
Home Office guidelines say those found to have drugs should be refused entry to a venue, or police should be called.
When The Coronet was contacted about the incident at the time, it said the stewards’ actions were ‘insufficient and inadequate’.
LGC responded that its staff did not have the legal right to search anyone.
Undercover journalists also spoke to a 15 year-old girl who said she had taken drugs.
She said: ‘My dad, he thinks I’m at a party. He thinks it’s for charity so I said I need extra money, so technically he just bought me MD.’
The investigation revealed at least 21 teens talking about drugs at the sold-out event in London, 16 of whom said they had taken drugs, while four admitted to being 14 or 15.
The Coronet and LGC both insisted that they have not broken the law.
LGC representative James Beaumont said: ‘We treat all allegations of substance abuse seriously and we will investigate fully what occurred to ensure any issues are resolved before another event takes place.’
While a spokesperson for The Coronet said: ‘We have a zero tolerance towards drugs and have a “no search no entry” policy.’
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