“Wu utilized her relationships at crypto exchange FTX to recruit world champion athlete defendant Curry to solicit sales of the BAYC collection of NFTs,” the investors claimed. “None of these celebrity endorsements of BAYC NFTs disclosed the underlying financial interests and relationships involved.”
The BAYC investors cite a litany of promotions that they claim were misleading in the 94-page complaint, including Hilton’s appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show on NBC where both touted BAYC NFTs and Hilton’s follow-up Twitter posts. Fallon is also a defendant in the suit.
Allison Rawlings, a spokesperson at NBCUniversal, said the company doesn’t comment on legal matters.
The Twitter posts “gave investors the false impression that Hilton: (1) actually bought the BAYC NFT; and (2) was enthusiastically ‘hanging out in the metaverse’ with Fallon and that they were ‘BoredApeBesties,”’ the investors claim in the complaint. “In truth, Hilton was only promoting the BAYC NTFs and MoonPay because she was financially motivated to make those statements.”
Madonna was accused of giving a false impression in a newspaper article that quoted her saying she was upset over being beaten to a bid on a Bored Ape NFT.
Madonna’s “statements about her inability to obtain the BAYC NFT that was her first choice misleadingly suggested to investors that the Yuga securities were in such high demand and so exclusive that even a highly-connected celebrity” like her couldn’t get any one that she wanted.
The investors seek unspecified monetary damages.
The case is Real v. Yuga Labs Inc., 2:22-cv-08909, US District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles.)
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.