A year after he organized one of the most controversial parties of the pandemic with a DJ and alcohol on a Sunwing plane, James William Awad admits that if he started over, he wouldn’t do this party, which drew the ire of the Four Corners would the planet.
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“I have no regrets,” says Awad with a mocking smile. On the other hand, if I had known what was going to happen a day before departure… I wouldn’t have done it because of the nasty surprises.
Le Journal met him at his luxurious property in Bois-des-Filion on Monday. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that this 29-year-old Quebecer was a total stranger this time last year.
On December 30, 2021, his life and that of dozens of partygoers with him was turned upside down. That day, James Awad gathered more than 170 people to celebrate on a chartered plane bound for Mexico. They broke many rules, such as smoking or drinking to the point of being drunk mid-flight.
Video from noechart_’s Instagram
Quebec simultaneously announced a lockdown and a worrying increase in COVID-19 cases. All restaurants, bars and cinemas were closed at this time. Even the return to school in January was postponed due to the health emergency.
- Listen to Benoit Dutrizac’s interview with TVA 22h news anchor Pierre-Olivier Zappa QUB radio :
“Before I even left, I told my friends that we would definitely be in the news. But I didn’t think it would take on global proportions,” he says, sitting next to a telescope that allows him to observe the sky in detail, or the many curious onlookers who now come to spy on his palace on the Rive. – North of Montreal.
You didn’t believe it
Several participants signed up for this trip with one of his companies, 111 Private Club, thinking it would never happen.
“People thought it was fake. As if it was impossible back then for an event to get everyone on one plane. I told them it’s not Fyre Festival,” explains Awad, laughing. He’s referring to festival-goers who were trapped on an island in the Bahamas with no cellphone service, running water, or electricity in 2017.
According to him, his biggest mistake is having his clients take videos on the plane and then posting them on social media. These images have indeed caused public excitement.
Video from Nathanielolivanaud’s Instagram
“If people hadn’t posted these videos on Instagram or elsewhere, this scandal would not have happened,” he said. It’s my fault, I should have told them not to post anything on the internet until the end of the event. That way, once I got here, it wouldn’t have bothered me.”
real consequences
So the night owls on the flight to Mexico were the cause of their own misfortune. Dozens of videos made international headlines after Le Journal first uncovered the controversy last January.
“When I saw the story make it onto Jimmy Fallon’s TV show [aux États-Unis]The stress was quite high, the entrepreneur recalls. A Sunwing employee was sent to the hotel in Mexico to meet with us. They ended up canceling our flight home because it was in the news and they wanted to take action. I myself have refunded everyone their individual return tickets and hotel. It cost me $75,000.
One of the most viral sequences is also the one where we see a vape smoking on the Sunwing plane. We then learned that the young woman was a future pilot. He has been heavily criticized. According to our information, Vanessa Sicotte, who is called Vanessa Cosi on social networks, is still a student pilot.
Screenshot from Nathanielolivanaud’s Instagram
“I talk to him from time to time. Everything is relaxed and his life is going well,” James William Awad briefly mentions without giving any further details.
Instagram screenshot
Sorry for the lawyer in thong
Unlike Ms. Sicotte, a prospective attorney who was filmed wearing a thong on her face during this trip paid a maximum amount for this trip south. Frédérique Dumas-Joyal went viral again with this video of her in Tulum wearing panties as a “mask.”
Screenshot from a video posted on RachelCantin’s Instagram / Instagram
“Una piña colada,” the young woman exclaims with a laugh in this sequence. In February 2022, Ms. Dumas-Joyal filed a lawsuit against the Bar Association alleging that she was delaying the practice of her profession for too long. She is now listed as a lawyer in the register of lawyers, but does not appear to be assigned to any law firm.
Video posted to RachelCantin’s Instagram account
“It’s sad what happened to her. I’m sorry for her. She wears the thong in a bar and has fun. The fact that it’s on the news, that’s a shame. We all did stupid things when we were young,” he admits.
Certainly, but why did you film and publish these momentous sequences? “Yes, that’s a mistake,” says the young man.
A former Sutton Quebec real estate agent who partied on the Sunwing flight was suspended by his employer because of the Sunwing flight. Karl Bernard was seen in a video dancing in the booth with a speaker in hand.
Instagram screenshot
Mr. Bernard appears to have found a new job, still as a broker, at RE/MAX Québec in Saint-Jérôme.
Photo Karl Bernard/Sutton/Instagram
No regrets despite the pandemic
On several occasions during the interview with our representative, James William assures Awad that he has “no regrets” about this mishap.
The young entrepreneur even claims to have boosted sales for all of his businesses, including TripleOne, pizza restaurants Crusty Crust and his private club, which he used to orchestrate the theft from Sunwing.
“I had no impact on my professional life. I also had advantages in my personal life,” he explains vaguely without providing any evidence.
Has it felt bad for the weary healthcare workers battling COVID-19 in hospitals? And for all Quebecers who were isolated in December 2021 as he simultaneously organized a party with a hundred people flouting health codes at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet?
“No, because it wasn’t illegal to go on a trip. You can’t do without certain things in life just because some people do,” says Awad.
This Journal report is the first in a series of three articles marking the anniversary of the Sunwing flight that had the effect of a media solar eclipse in January 2022.