Major celebrities are facing a lawsuit over the promotion of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs
In Brief
Forty co-defendants face lawsuit over the promotion of Yuga Labs’ BAYC NFTs
Among the co-defendants are Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, and other A-list celebrities
On December 8, John T. Jasnoch of Scott+Scott Attorneys filed the class action suit, claiming that the Bored Ape Yacht Club creators Yuga Labs used A-list celebrities to promote their NFTs. Scott+Scott Attorneys first proposed the suit in July this year.
The list includes 40 co-defendants. Among these are Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Diplo, Steph Curry, Serena Williams, Paris Hilton, Post Malone, The Weeknd, and Gwyneth Paltrow. According to the suit, the media personas failed to disclose their financial relationships with Yuga Labs. Scott+Scott Attorneys claimed that the organization used A-list celebrities to create “artificially inflated and distorted prices” for the non-fungible tokens.
In addition to a rich list of musicians, actors, and athletes, the suit mentions the ex-board member of ApeDAO, Amy Wu, and the crypto fintech company MoonPay. The latter allegedly facilitated transactions related to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. One of the co-defendants is a Hollywood talent agent Guy Oseary, who reportedly helped Yuga Labs reach out to celebrities.
“The exclusiveness of BAYC membership was entirely based on the inclusion and endorsements of highly influential celebrities. But this purported interest in, and endorsement of, the BAYC NFTs by high-profile tastemakers was entirely manufactured by Oseary at the behest of the Executive Defendants,”
states the class action suit.
It’s also worth noting that in October, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission started investigating Yuga Labs due to the violation of federal law by selling unregistered digital assets.
The current floor price of BAYC NFTs is 70 ETH (approximately $87.290 at the time of writing). 696,380 ETH of volume was traded since the collection was released in April 2021.
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About The Author
Valeria is a reporter for Metaverse Post. She focuses on fundraises, AI, metaverse, digital fashion, NFTs, and everything web3-related. Valeria has a Master’s degree in Public Communications and is getting her second Major in International Business Management. She dedicates her free time to photography and fashion styling. At the age of 13, Valeria created her first fashion-focused blog, which developed her passion for journalism and style. She is based in northern Italy and often works remotely from different European cities. You can contact her at valerygoncharenko@mpost.io
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Valeria is a reporter for Metaverse Post. She focuses on fundraises, AI, metaverse, digital fashion, NFTs, and everything web3-related. Valeria has a Master’s degree in Public Communications and is getting her second Major in International Business Management. She dedicates her free time to photography and fashion styling. At the age of 13, Valeria created her first fashion-focused blog, which developed her passion for journalism and style. She is based in northern Italy and often works remotely from different European cities. You can contact her at valerygoncharenko@mpost.io
