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NFT: Yuga Labs, MoonPay facing lawsuit involving major celebrities over NFT endorsements

Photo by: Markus Spiske/Unsplash

Yuga Labs and MoonPay are being sued along with more than three dozen major Hollywood celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Jimmy Fallon, and Madonna. The former is home to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT), and the case is related to the artists’ promotion of digital assets.

MoonPay, a crypto fintech firm that offers a fast and simple way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies is facing a lawsuit along with Yuga Labs after they were accused of using celebrities to advertise and sell NFTS in a misleading way. The class-action lawsuit also named Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Diplo, Serena Williams, and Post Malone as defendants.

“This case epitomizes these concerns as it involves a vast scheme between a blockchain start-up company, Yuga Labs, Inc., a highly connected Hollywood talent agent (Defendant Guy Oseary), and a front operation (MoonPay), who all united for the purpose of promoting and selling a suite of digital assets,” part of the statement in the lawsuit documents reads.

As per CoinTelegraph, the case was filed late last week at the Central District of California by Atty. John T. Jasnoch of Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP. He stated in the filing that MoonPay and Yuga Labs made use of its Hollywood network to promote non-fungible tokens without following the disclosure requirements.

Moreover, the complainants in the suit further said that executives at Yuga Labs and talent manager, Guy Oseary, created a plan to use a vast network of A-list musicians, celebrities, and athletes, to their advantage by getting them to promote the NFTs and influence many investors to “join the club” through Yuga’s NFT collection such as the Bored Ape Yacht and Cryptopunks.

“The exclusiveness of BAYC membership was entirely based on the inclusion and endorsements of highly influential celebrities,” the plaintiffs alleged. “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.”

In any case, there are two plaintiffs in this lawsuit against Yuga Labs, MoonPay, and about 40 celebrities, and they are Adonis Real and Adam Titcher. Both of them bought NFTs from Yuga Labs between April 2021 to the present. It was noted that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) already stated in the past that celebrity endorsements might be illegal if they fail to disclose the nature, source, and amount of any compensation paid by the company for the promotion.

Photo by: Markus Spiske/Unsplash

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