Billy McFarland and Seth MacFarlane Look Very Similar, but Are They Related?

If you ever found yourself at a party with Billy McFarland — yes, the mastermind behind the infamous Fyre Festival — and Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane, you might do a double take. The two share an uncanny resemblance, from their similar smiles to the way their eyes slightly slant at the corners.

In fact, their facial features are so alike that people have speculated for years whether they’re related, perhaps brothers or cousins.

So, which is it? Or are their similar facial features the extent of their relationship? Let’s dig into their backgrounds to find out.

There’s no evidence to suggest that Billy McFarland and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane are related. For starters, they don’t even share the same last name.

Billy was born in New York City in 1991, making him 33 years old. While he’s best known as the disgraced organizer of the infamous Fyre Festival (and is currently working on Fyre Festival 2), he’s also founded multiple companies, including Spling Inc., Magnises, and PYRT.

As for his family, Billy’s parents are Renee Zervakos and Steve McFarland. They raised him in Westfield, N.J., as part of the Greek Orthodox Parish of Holy Trinity, according to The National Herald. He grew up in a "privileged environment" and attended private schools, including The Pingry School — one of the top private schools in New Jersey — where he studied from 2006 to 2010, per his LinkedIn.

Seth, on the other hand, was born in 1973 in Kent, Conn., making him 51 years old, according to his website. His parents are Ronald Milton and Ann Perry, and he has a sister named Rachel. Not only is there an 18-year age gap between Billy and Seth, but there’s also no mention of Billy in Seth’s upbringing. Since they don’t share the same parents, the theory that they could be brothers is officially ruled out.

One similarity we did uncover? Like Billy, Seth didn’t attend public school. Instead, he went to Kent School, a coed boarding school with tuition ranging from $60,000 to $81,000, depending on whether room and board are included. His parents also reportedly worked there.

So, while Billy and Seth share strikingly similar facial features, they also have another thing in common — a somewhat privileged upbringing.

Although Billy's life has been riddled with controversy, thanks to the schemes he pulled with the first Fyre Festival, his track record shows he’s a go-getter, willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants (even if it means deceiving people out of millions of dollars). As mentioned, his LinkedIn reveals he’s launched multiple businesses, which we’d love to believe are credible, but we won’t hold our breath.

Seth was, and continues to be, very ambitious. His comic strip Walter Crouton was published in his local newspaper at the age of eight. He later attended the Rhode Island School of Design, and after graduating, landed a job at Hanna-Barbera Productions, now known as Cartoon Network Studios, according to his website.

But for all the speculators trying to connect these two, there just doesn’t seem to be a blood relation.