CNN Special Report: Celebrities, YugaLabs, and payment processors deliberately hype up Bored Ape Yacht Club for personal gain

CNN wrote a special feature harshly accusing BAYC of being a distorted story of celebrity and industry co-marketing hype, as compiled in the ChainNews series.

Conspiracy Theory 2: Music Industry Moguls and the Lavish Marketing of MoonPay

This content is translated/annotated. For any doubts, please refer to the original report by CNN.

In April 2021, Yuga Labs released the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, featuring cartoon apes with computer-generated features and decorations such as golden fur, sailor hats, laser eyes, 3D glasses, cigarettes, "hip-hop" attire, "fur coats," prison uniforms, helmets, and "sushi chef" headbands. The founders were initially anonymous, known only by their online aliases. Note: The real identities were later revealed, and all co-founders are now public.

That fall, Hollywood agent Guy Oseary reached out to Yuga Labs, eventually investing in the company and joining its board. Soon, many celebrities started showcasing their bored apes on social media, including Oseary's clients Madonna, Steph Curry, Lil Baby, DJ Khaled, Snoop Dogg, Gwyneth Paltrow, among others. Bored apes also began selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars, with Justin Bieber reportedly buying one for $1.3 million.

By March 2022, Yuga Labs had secured a $450 million investment, valuing the company at $4 billion.

The lawsuit alleges that the interest shown by these prominent tastemakers in bored apes was orchestrated by Yuga Labs through Guy Oseary.

In order to make the promotion of bored ape NFTs and the subsequent hype appear organic rather than paid promotion, these companies needed a careful way to compensate their celebrity partners. The lawsuit alleges they did this through MoonPay.

When Jimmy Fallon introduced cryptocurrency to his audience, he also introduced a seamless way to buy: MoonPay.

MoonPay is a payment company that allows customers to purchase cryptocurrencies through major payment systems like credit cards. In November 2021, Fallon mentioned on The Tonight Show that he bought his first NFT using MoonPay. "MoonPay? MoonPay! I did my homework. MoonPay is like PayPal, but for cryptocurrency," Fallon said. In January the following year, when Paris Hilton showcased her bored ape on the show, she said, "You said you got it through MoonPay, so I did too, I learned from you."

Several months later, in April 2022, MoonPay announced investments from over 60 celebrities and influencers. MoonPay spokesperson Justin Hamilton told CNN that Paris Hilton became an investor after chatting with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) typically requires endorsers with financial interests in promoting a company to disclose it.

The celebrity hype and unbelievable prices have sparked immense media interest. Rolling Stone featured bored ape NFTs on their cover. Guy Oseary graced the cover of Variety, titled "NFT King."

Note: Guy Oseary is also a backer of Sound Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by former actor Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher has collaborated with Vitalik Buterin in promoting Ethereum and has also released NFTs.