Justin Bieber, Madonna, The Weeknd, Snoop Dogg, and Post Malone are just a few of the artists/celebrities that have been named as defendants in the lawsuit against Bored Ape Yacht Club’s NFT creators. The claim details that Yuga Labs, the company behind the NFT’s, used the celebrity endorsements to increase the value and cause losses for buyers, according to Rolling Stone.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Stephen Curry, Kevin Hart, Serena Williams, Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show‘s production companies, Adidas, Future, Diplo, and more are also named as defendants in the filing. However, as the article notes, Bieber allegedly bought one of the Bored Ape NFT’s for $1.2 million before the value fell to $69,000 in January 2022. Hilton also promoted the Bored Ape NFT’s on Fallon’s talk show.)
“Defendants’ promotional campaign was wildly successful, generating billions of dollars in sales and re-sales,” the lawsuit states, “The manufactured celebrity endorsements and misleading promotions regarding the launch of an entire BAYC ecosystem (the so-called Otherside metaverse) were able to artificially increase the interest in and price of the BAYC NFTs during the Relevant Period, causing investors to purchase these losing investments at drastically inflated prices.”
The lawsuit also notes that Guy Oseary, an entertainment manager known for his relationship with NFT-enthusiast Madonna, partnered with Yuga Labs to “leverage their vast network of A-list musicians, athletes, and celebrity clients.”
It’s unclear if this lawsuit will head to trial yet, as the cases against cryptocurrency promotions unfold — especially in the wake of FTX.
Madonna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.