Snoop Dogg, his ape and a question of celebrity hype
The question of whether Snoop Dogg deeply and sincerely liked some cartoon apes has become key in a federal lawsuit between the crypto empire Yuga Labs and the trollish artist Ryder Ripps.
Yuga Labs v. Ripps is a fight over trademarks, but legal filings in the case are pulling back the curtain on the year of mania around the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of cartoon apes.
The Bored Apes became some of the most famous NFTs after a series of celebrities said they got one. Snoop — not a plaintiff or defendant in the case — was one of the most famous and vocal owners of an ape. But Ripps’ team says Snoop’s love of the apes was not genuine, but bought and paid for by Yuga Labs — and federal regulations require celebs to disclose paid endorsements. Court documents filed by Ripps’ lawyers claim Snoop was paid “around $1 million” to perform as a Bored Ape at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2022. The rapper did not disclose the payment in conjunction with his performance.
Celebrity-paid promos were part of the success of the broader crypto industry too, as revealed in the fallout from the collapse of FTX in November. In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged eight celebrities for not disclosing they were paid to promote cryptocurrencies. Further, Snoop — along with several other celebrities and crypto firms — is facing a class action lawsuit filed in December that alleges he was part of a scheme to artificially inflate the price of Bored Apes with inauthentic celebrity hype.
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