Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna sued for hawking NFTs
A number of celebrities — including Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna — are being accused of fraud for counterfeiting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, according to a recent federal lawsuit.
The group of plaintiffs alleges that the A-listers traded the non-fungible tokens – which have fallen in value over the past year – without disclosing their investment in the company behind them, Yuga Labs.
“The company’s business model relies on using insidious marketing and promotional activities by highly compensated A-list celebrities (without disclosing such) to increase demand for the Yuga papers,” according to the complaint filed Thursday in US District Court for Central District of California.
The proposed class-action lawsuit says the famous NFT backers committed fraud “by convincing potential retail investors that the price of these digital assets will appreciate.”
Now some of these investments are worth about 10% of their original value.
Other celebrities named in the suit include: Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Stephen Curry, Serena Williams and husband Reddit boss Alexis Ohanian, Snoop Dogg, The Weeknd and DJ Khaled. Adidas and Jimmy Fallon’s production company Election Hot Dog are also named as defendants.
The suit alleges that talent manager Guy Oseary was behind most of the campaigns, recruiting famous people in exchange for payment through a crypto firm, Moonpay, in which he had also invested. This also helped Moonpay rake in cash, according to the complaint.
Fallon did a segment on NFTs on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in November 2021, telling viewers he got his first Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT through Moonpay — without saying he had a stake in Moonpay, the suit alleges.
The talk show host and NBC did not tell the audience that “this purportedly organic segment on the Tonight Show was in fact a paid advertisement for the BAYC collection of NFTs and MoonPay,” the complaint states.
The suit also says Bieber fraudulently claimed he bought a $1.3 million NFT when it was actually given to him in exchange for promotion.
Yuga Labs said in a statement that it believes the lawsuit is unfair.
“In our view, these claims are opportunistic and parasitic. We strongly believe they are without merit and look forward to proving as much,” Yuga Labs told The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the matter.
