7 Celebrity NFT fails

Since 2021, when they broke out, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have caught everyone’s fancy. Not to be outdone, many celebrities have been quick to board the NFT hype train. However, not all NFT projects are created equal. Many have failed to live up to the hype, either fizzling out shortly after launch or plummeting in value shortly after reaching an all-time high.

Jonathan Merry, CEO of BanklessTimes.com, has been closely following developments in the NFT space. While many celebrities have been quick to jump on the NFT bandwagon, Merry believes their lack of understanding of the technology will ultimately lead to their downfall.

While there are many examples of failed celebrity-backed NFT projects, BanklessTimes has picked out a few that stand out. In this article, we look at 7 such projects that did not turn out as expected. The listing follows no particular order and should not be taken as a ranking of the projects in terms of degree of failure.

Ellen Degeneres

Talk Show Queen Ellen DeGeneres made her foray into the NFT world in March 2021 by releasing her digital art collection Woman With Stick Cat. The NFT collection, which came in gold and silver editions, featured the talk show queen taking a selfie with a stick sketch of a cat. It also had an accompanying video monologue by Ellen announcing her entry into NFTs.

Despite Ellen’s celebrity status and the collection’s charity focus, it raised a paltry $33,455. The Gold edition was disappointing, selling only half of the ten NFTs at $2,500 each. The silver edition didn’t fare much better, attracting just 64 buyers and raking in $6,400 in sales. The only silver was the $14,555 the video monologue brought in.

So what went wrong for Ellen? BanklessTimes CEO Jonathan Merry puts it down to laziness on the part of Ellen and the project managers. He says, “If you don’t do the work, you won’t get results. It’s sad, but Ellen’s low-effort NFT didn’t do any good.

John Cena

If John Cena had looked to cash in on WWE and acting fame to sell his NFT collection, he had another thing coming. The wrestler-turned-actor released 500 gold pack NFTs, aiming to sell them for $1,000 each. But only 37 found suitors, giving him a total of $37,000.

Cena’s second team collection fared worse after it only brought in $21,000 in sales. But credit to him, he admitted in a September 2021 interview that the project was a catastrophic failure. He agreed that he and WWE were wrong about the awards.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown is another celebrity who discovered that fame and NFTs are not necessarily a match made in heaven. The hit song producer, who has a cult-like following, released his Breezyverse NFT compilation in July 2022.

Unknown to Brown, not many of his hordes of fans would be thrilled to part with 0.35ETH (nearly $440 at launch) for his digital animation. With his kind of reach, one would expect his collection to sell out within hours of launch. But no, that didn’t happen, since a week after the auction he had only sold 297 of the 10,000 NFTs he offered.

In its defense, the Breezyverse team said they had expected slow adoption. It insists it is a long-term project aimed at building a Chris Brown community through the digital space. Only time will tell if the project will be a hit or a miss, but more needs to be done to rekindle the enthusiasm of Chris’ fans for it.

Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather is one of the latest celebrities to be caught up in an NFT mess. The decorated boxer is being accused of running the NFT carpet. For example, he reportedly earned $4.9 million from the sale of Floyd’s World Collection.

However, since April he has been silent on the project, his last known Twitter communication about the project coming in April 2022. Meanwhile, the floor price of the NFTs has fallen from an ATH of 0.15 ETH to the current 0.006 ETH. Not surprisingly, many feel cheated by Mayweather and his Floyd’s World NFTs.

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson’s foray into the NFT world has been a rollercoaster ride. After an initial post-mint FOMO frenzy that saw his NFT collection attract as much as 14 ETH a piece, things went south, with floor prices dropping to 0.12 ETH as of October 10, 2022.

Fans have expressed displeasure with Iron Mike for the dismal performance of his NFT project. They accuse him of promoting a useless project that has made them count their losses.

Lana Rhoades

Lana Rhoades is another celebrity who has seen her foray into the NFT world go awry. The adult movie star behind the cryptosis NFT project, which promised investors huge returns, is now facing accusations that she has lured investors. Lana has denied the claims, claiming that just because the project didn’t do well doesn’t make her a fraud.

The dispute is that Lana withdrew $1.5 million worth of ETH from the project. According to her, she withdrew the funds to pay the project’s developers. The artist went on a Twitter tirade calling her accusers slanderers and other unprintable epithets before deactivating her account. But before that, she distanced herself from the project, leaving the investors in limbo over their funds.

John Wall

John Wall’s “Baby Ballers” NFT project is in hot water after being accused of plagiarism. The collection includes 4,000 NFTs featuring a kid playing basketball, but the background image for the NFTs appears to be screenshots from Fortnite. This led many in the community to accuse Wall and his team of plagiarism.

John Wall has been MIA on Twitter for a while now as he appears to have shut down his page. Baby Baller’s website is also down, and some users claim that the project’s Discord channel has blocked them. Meanwhile, NFT’s floor price has fallen by 99%, and Open Sea recorded last activity on the project on 31 December 2021.

So, what lessons can we learn from celebrities who have launched NFTs?

Despite the failures, several high-profile individuals have launched their own NFTs and seen tremendous success. So, what can we learn from these celebrity NFT launches?

First of all, it is crucial to have a good idea. While one can turn any old digital file into an NFT, there must be an element that makes it unique or desirable. Beyond the art, there needs to be a reality tool that will draw fans into the project.

Secondly, the project must be authentic to the target group. Many Web 3 natives can easily see through money-grab schemes and will avoid them. The artist must show a genuine interest in NFTs and their development. Unfortunately for the celebrities whose projects have failed, they seemed more interested in boosting their bottom lines than promoting NFT technology.

Moreover, it is also crucial to price the NFTs reasonably. There is no point in pricing your NFTs so high that only the super rich can afford them; you want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy your work. But at the same time, you don’t want to undervalue your art by pricing it too low. Finding the right balance is critical to a successful launch.

Finally, NFT issuers should take the time to cultivate their communities. Web 3 natives want authentic engagement and interaction with NFT developers. Constantly reaching out to the community via social media or other physical engagements helps build a trusted following, increasing the project’s chances of success.