Attorneys for Adam Titcher and Adonis Real, Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP, filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, on December 8. The accused company is Yuga Labs Inc., best known for its Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT line. However, many celebrities are also accused of artificially inflating the price of Yuga Labs’ intangible assets.
According to Deadline’s reporting, the class action lawsuit names several celebrities as defendants, including Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon, and Kevin Hart.
In a 2017 article, the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated, “Celebrities and others are using social media networks to encourage the public to purchase stocks and other investments,” which is a fair summation of the charges, which include violations of unfair competition laws, aiding and abetting, and civil conspiracy. In the absence of disclosure on the nature, source, and amount of any payments received by the endorser from the company, these endorsements violate applicable laws.
In the lawsuit, Yuga Labs is accused of paying those who helped spread the word of the NFT collection using an intermediary firm called MoonPay.
MoonPay presents itself as an NFT exchange for celebrities and other investors, but the complaint alleges that it was used to pay celebrities to promote Yuga Labs’ NFTs secretly. According to the complaint, Guy Oseary, a well-connected Hollywood talent agency, founded MoonPay in collusion with Yuga Labs to offer the intermediary mentioned above.
The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial and are asking for compensation for everyone who lost money on April 23, 2021, by investing in Yuga’s NFTs or Yuga’s cryptocurrency, ApeCoin.