Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Bieber, Madonna, and other celebs who spent a somewhat embarrassing part of the last few years trying to convince fans that ugly pictures of monkeys were a) cool and b) a lucrative investment opportunity, are now getting a beating with a suit. Specifically – and for every THR—A number of celebrities have found themselves defendants in a new suit this week that accuses at least some of them, among other things, of failing to disclose a financial stake in a company that facilitates the purchase of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, even if they were publicly promoting the brand.
Said lawsuit is being filed by Adonis Real and Adam Titcher, two monkey buyers who lost money on their purchases, and are hoping to develop a class action lawsuit against everyone involved. Their targets include BAYC’s parent company Yuga Labs, a number of well-known promoters who have endorsed the brand (Paris Hilton, Diplo, Post Malone, Snoop Dogg, Stephen Curry, Kevin Hart, DJ Khaled, and more also named “Promoter Defendants”), and an industry executive Known musician Guy Oseary, who is accused of setting up low-level payments through a company called Moonpay (in which several of the aforementioned celebrities are allegedly invested) to pay for their endorsements.
Much of the lawsuit’s focus is on Oseary, longtime manager to Madonna (as well as U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more), who has been referred to in legal documents as “The Fifth Monkey.” (Along with the four founders of Yuga Labs, all also defendants.) Oseary has been accused of taking advantage of his large network of contacts—the lawsuit specifically asks for his help booking Fallon for U2 in the early days of the host’s tenure. The Tonight Show—to rope in celebrity investors and promoters to build the Bored Ape brand.
November 2021 highlight The Tonight Show Interview with web artist Matt “Beeple” Winkelmann (who allegedly works with Oseary, and also a named defendant in the lawsuit) The suit accuses Fallon of getting paid for brand promotion when he talked about getting his own ugly monkey avatar through Moonpay, he writes, Fallon has not disclosed that he has a financial interest in MoonPay or that he is also financially interested, directly or indirectly, in increasing the sales and popularity of Yuga Securities. The lawsuit goes on to detail a number of other transactions that the celebrities appear to have obtained, either in cryptocurrency or NFTs, in exchange for their consents.
A spokesperson for Yuga Labs responded to the lawsuit this week, calling the allegations “opportunistic and parasitic. We firmly believe they are not meritocracy, and we look forward to proving that.” This isn’t the first celebrity-focused NFT/crypto lawsuit to come to light in recent months, as the entire market continues to flush in the toilet. (Trading of Boring Monkey NFTs has reportedly dropped by 93 percent since its launch.) recently named defendants In a lawsuit promoting cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
You can read the full text of The Bored Monkey Suit in more than THR.
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”