Broker accused of duping Coachella revelers with Facebook tag

Roughly 99,000 Coachella festival-goers geotagged their Facebook photos “Coachella — Weekend 1.” Only later did they discover that the tag had changed to “Rami Atherton,” the name of a Los Angeles-based luxury property broker.

The tag linked directly to Atherton’s Facebook page. And many now feel that they were tricked into participating in shady publicity stunt, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“That is some sneaky shit,” Buzz Chatman, a TV producer and festival attendee, told the Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a pain in the ass and I can’t change them back so now his name is all over my timeline.”

Atherton is an agent with Nourmand & Associates, a firm with offices in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Brentwood. He cites an “unparalleled level of discretion and personalized attention” as some of his professional qualities.

Atherton denies intentionally confusing Facebook users and adds that he was surprised when people were “tagging our group. We had about 100 people do that and I disconnected it because it was getting kind of obscene. People were tagging it that weren’t in our group.”

“I didn’t realize it was a public group. I caught it this weekend and changed it,” he said, adding that it was absolutely not a publicity stunt. [Hollywood Reporter] –Christopher Cameron