It’s clear that for celebrities you never have too much money. It is not enough for them only with the one they earn with their respective jobs or activities but also some of them have decided to get money by a faster but illegal way.
The scam sue against people like Justin Bieber, Madonna, The Weeknd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jimmy Fallon, among others, comes from Adonis Real and Adam Titcher. These men have created a list with the names of the celebrities who have been included in supposedly illegal operations.
It all started with just the promotion of an NFT and has now led them to the courts of California. The complainants, who have invested money in the defendant company, claim $5 million. They allege that the celebrities along with NFT’s company allegedly manipulated the acquisition of the Bored Ape Yacht Club by inflating its price.
For example, Justin Bieber’s NFT was valued at $1.3 million and is currently under $70,000 because it is rapidly losing its value. The problem is that supposedly the singer of “Peaches” did not invest his money in the purchase of this NFT. The company and the platform MoonPay, in charge of financial operations, gave it as a publicity medium. It seemed a perfect agreement since the Canadian did not lose money and the company that owned the NFT managed to attract more buyers.
Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, decided to promote the NFT monkeys he owned during his television show The Tonight Show, which is seen by many people because it is in Prime Time.
Until there was nothing illegal but it turns out that they did not clarify that it was promotional content for which celebrities would receive money in return. For some years it has been mandatory for people who promote a brand for which they are charging to make it clear that it is a paid collaboration. This is why they have been sued.
“Actually, the Executive Defendants and Oseary used their connections to MoonPay and their service as a covert way of compensating the influencers sued for their NFT promotions without revealing it to unsuspecting investors” can be read in the complaint document.
It is still not entirely clear as Yugo Labs NFT has said these accusations are not real and are looking for ways to prove it.
If the company fails to prove the innocence of celebrities it is very likely that the collective complaint for fraud cost them much more than they think. A move they made in order to make money will ultimately make them lose it. The next time they decide to look for an easy and fast way to earn money they will surely think twice before getting it done.