The lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages and alleges that celebrities, including Post Malone, Madonna, and Steph Curry, conspired to pump up Bored Ape and Mutant Ape values.
Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law have filed a class action lawsuit against Yuga Labs and nearly 40 public figures and companies connected to the Web3 brand.
The international securities and consumer rights litigation firm filed the lawsuit against Bored Ape Yacht Club‘s parent company in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Dec. 9. The complaint alleges that celebrities violated the law when they promoted BAYC without disclosing their financial connection to Yuga Labs. For example, some of the celebrities included in the lawsuit could have received BAYC NFTs for free from Yuga Labs when the desirable collectibles cost upward of $3 million. Scott+Scott also accuses the defendants of sharing misinformation about Yuga Labs’ growth and financial outlook.
The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages of at least $5 million on behalf of the plaintiffs.
“In our view, these claims are opportunistic and parasitic,” a Yuga Labs spokesperson told Variety. “We strongly believe that they are without merit, and look forward to proving as much.”
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Some of the notable figures and companies named in the lawsuit alongside Yuga Labs include Madonna, Post Malone, MoonPay, Justin Bieber, Serena Williams, Steph Curry, Adidas Ventures, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Hart, Jimmy Fallon, Guy Oseary, Alexis Ohanian, The Weeknd, and DJ Khaled.
The 100-page filing lists 10 charges that accuse Yuga Labs and Hollywood elites of conspiring to boost the value of Bored Ape and Mutant Ape NFTs. The lawsuit specifically calls out Oseary, Madonna’s longtime talent manager and a talent representative for Bored Ape, accusing him of leveraging his network of celebrities to support and promote Yuga Labs products. Scott+Scott also accuses MoonPay of facilitating illegal payments between Yuga Labs and the listed defendants.
Read Boardroom’s explainer on MoonPay for more details on the three-year-old fintech company with a mission to increase cryptocurrency adoption.
If Scott+Scott can prove that Yuga Labs worked with celebrities to amplify the value behind its various projects while also covering up secret payments for said actions, the firm may have a real case on its hands.
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