A slew of high-profile Hollywood celebrities including Madonna, Gywneth Paltrow, and NBC’s Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon are reportedly being sued in a proposed class action suit for promoting an NFT art collection, with plaintiffs alleging they were misled into buying “losing investments at drastically inflated prices.”
The NFT in question is Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens — an art collection featuring cartoon simians in comic poses. The suit alleges celebrities misled investors into buying BAYC NFTs as well as other unregistered securities issued by Yuga Labs, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.
Plaintiffs are claiming the celebrity promoters — who also include Kevin Hart, The Weeknd, and Post Malone — were recruited by talent manager Guy Oseary, who allegedly worked with Yuga Labs to pay them for their endorsements through crypto firm Moonpay.
Bored Ape Yacht Club signed with Oseary last year for representation and Oseary’s venture capital firm Sound Ventures was allegedly an early investor in Moonpay.
The lawsuit claims celebrities boosted the public profiles of BAYC NFTs “to artificially create demand for the Yuga securities, which in turn would increase use of MoonPay’s crypto payment service to handle this new demand.” Oseary could also allegedly use MoonPay to obscure how he compensated his stable of celebrity promoters.
Jimmy Fallon used NBC’s Tonight Show to promote BAYC NFTs, with guest Paris Hilton, in a recent episode.
Celebrities have increasingly come under legal scrutiny for their role in promoting cryto products as the once-hot market continues its precipitous plunge.
A federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit against endorsers of EthereumMax. Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were among the stars who promoted the cryptocurrency product.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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