Yuga Labs accused of misrepresentation in NFT approvals

Yuga Labs, developers of Bored Ape NFTs and Mutant Ape, are facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly conspiring with celebrities to promote their NFT collection.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 8 in the US District Court Central District of California. It has at least 37 co-defendants, which include Yuga Labs executives, celebrities and MoonPay, which allegedly facilitated the approvals.

Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, others involved in the lawsuit

The filing stated that Yuga Labs secretly paid the celebrities to support Bored Ape NFTs through MoonPay.

At the center of this claim is talent manager Guy Oseary, Madonna’s representative. The 100-page lawsuit alleged that he encouraged his celebrity networks to endorse the NFTs while receiving payments for their endorsements. Oseary is an early investor in MoonPay.

The lawsuit has celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Steph Curry, Justin Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lil Baby, Kevin Hart and Paris Hilton, etc. as defendants.

Interestingly, BeinCrypto reported that Justin Bieber’s Bored Ape #3001 NFT had dropped 94% in USD value since he bought it in January 2022.

The filing alleges that the defendants violated the law by failing to disclose their relationship with Yuga Labs when they supported the NFTs.

MoonPay, valued at $3.2 billion, became famous in 2021 for its exclusive service facilitating celebrity NFT purchases. The lawsuit insisted that MoonPay was just a front.

Yuga Labs denies claims

Meanwhile, Yuga Labs has denied the allegations in the lawsuit, claiming it is “opportunistic and parasitic” without merit.

This is the second lawsuit against the company by the law firm Scott+Scott. In July, the law firm announced a class action lawsuit against Yuga Labs for violating securities laws by selling and promoting Bored Apes and ApeCoin.

Yuga Labs is also facing investigation by the SEC regarding potential securities violations.

Celebrities are increasingly facing lawsuits for their endorsements

Celebrity endorsers are increasingly facing lawsuits for their promotions of crypto-related products.

Recently, celebrities promoting the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX were involved in a class action lawsuit. Promoters of failed crypto-asset Ethereum Max were also involved in a lawsuit – a Californian court dismissed this case.