Yuga Labs has, in its recent communication, confirmed the resignation of its social lead for alleged racist and antisemitic tweets. The $4 billion-valued startup identified with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) indicated that the ex-employee tendered resignation on Sunday.
Yuga Labs indicated that the former employee faced widespread backlash from social media. The social lead faced criticism following the resurfacing of multiple racist and antisemitic tweets posted in 2021.
Yuga Labs Acknowledge Resignation of Staff Following Social Media Backlash
Shpend Salihu, identified via NGBxShpend username, was in a mid-2023 LinkedIn post identified by Yuga Labs as the Social Lead. The employee confirmed via a Sunday, November 5, resigning from the startup.
Salihu confessed that he resigned from the pressure attributed to the personal tweets made in the past that appeared to denigrate various races. Also, he acknowledged that other tweets conveyed the negativism of various ethno-religious groups.
Salihu denied that the tweets reflect his identity, personality and beliefs. He attributed the tweets that went viral resurfaced from the past. He added that the tweets turned distractive to the Club.
Salihu hailed the amazing experience of interacting with the BAYC and Yuga communities in the last few years. The ex-employee apologized for letting all individuals down with the tweets he considered made in poor taste.
Yuga Labs would later confirm the person was its employee who dutifully resigned from the post. However, the startup declined further disclosure regarding the matter. Efforts to reach out to Salihu turned futile as he declined to respond.
The BAYC is among the prominent nonfungible projects that feature a collection of 10000 unique Ethereum-based profile pictures (PFPs). The PFPs involve unique images serving the access pass role to the private club. Members of the club draw various benefits, including accessing events. Also, they enjoy exclusive benefits primarily from subsequent NFT drops and ApeCoin tokens.
A review of the BAYC project shows that it has generated closer to $3 billion in trading volume since its establishment in 2021, as per CryptoSlam data. Subsequent projects, such as the Mutant Ape Yacht Club, alongside other projects, added billions to the tally.
Yuga Labs has grown in scalability, evident in raising $450 million in 2022 to realize a $4 billion valuation. Later, Yuga successfully acquired Meebits IP and CryptoPunks from Larva Labs.
ApeFest Celebration in Hong Kong
Salihu’s departure coincides with the conclusion of the ApeFest annual celebration for Bored Ape Yacht Club members. The event hosted in Hong Kong featured news of Yuga Labs collaborating with Magic Eden to unveil an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace.
The annual event has attracted negative publicity, with several attendees complaining of suffering eye pain from potential overexposure to UV light. Yuga Labs confirmed using UV light in the Hong Kong event.
A pseudonymous NFT collector, VonDoom, decried the past tweets of Salihu, labeling the incident as portraying overt public racism. VonDoom wondered about the absence of background screening deployed by Yuga Labs in its recruitment program.
VonDoom criticized the deficient recruitment process, citing the failure to screen and scrub the candidate’s public social status prior to actual hiring. Also, he wondered how the startup allowed the individual with the disgraced past to display the firm’s official badge publicly.
Yuga Labs Distances From Antisemitic and Racist Imagery
The resignation of Salihu reincarnates the previous allegations of Yuga Labs and the co-founders previously engaging in racist and antisemitic imagery during the BAYC creation. The startup vigorously rubbished the claims, citing the company’s diversity portrayed by its co-founders of various heritages.
The alleged racist imagery gained steam following the allegations levied by artist Ryder Ripps. Yuga Labs ultimately sued artist Ripps alongside Jeremy Cahen, citing the copycat Bored Ape unveiled in 2022 to support their allegations.
The US district judge granted Yuga’s petition in a late October ruling directing Ripps and Cahen to pay $1.575 million in damages. Besides bearing the legal fees, the judge directed the artist to surrender the smart contract powering the copycat collection to Yuga.
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