Protection attorneys for YouTubers Kyle Forgeard and John Shahidi, also referred to as the Nelk Boys, have moved to dismiss a category motion lawsuit accusing them of fraud over their Full Ship Metacard NFT mission.
Attorneys for the Nelk Boys argued that the plaintiff turned down a full refund and that the grievance lacks particular false claims.
The lawsuit was filed in January on behalf of Metacard NFT patrons, alleging that the defendants had misled shoppers with guarantees of unique perks and neighborhood entry.
It is usually alleged that the pair misrepresented the Metacard program earlier than the January 19, 2022, sale, which induced the plaintiff to buy a token on that date.
The lawsuit asserted that after the NFTs have been offered, the defendants continued to make deceptive statements to delay the plaintiff and different potential class members from realizing that they had been misled.
“The defendants’ false and deceptive statements have been extensively distributed by way of press releases, social media posts, YouTube movies, podcasts, and different promotional supplies associated to Full Ship and Metacards,” the grievance said.
In a movement filed on April 17 within the U.S. District Court docket for the Central District of California, the protection for the Nelk Boys argued that the grievance fails to fulfill primary fraud requirements and is moot as a result of refund supply.
“After the broader NFT market collapsed, defendants provided each Metacard holder—together with the plaintiff—a full refund plus curiosity, mooting these claims,” the attorneys wrote. “Plaintiff might remorse his buy—and turning down a full refund. However remorse doesn’t plead fraud. The grievance ought to be dismissed.”
Based by Forgeard and Jesse Sebastiani in 2010, the Nelk Boys are a gaggle of Canadian-American entertainers identified for his or her prank movies and a party-themed model that features the Full Ship podcast, merchandise, and alcoholic drinks. The Nelk Boys boast 8 million subscribers on YouTube and 674,000 followers on X.
Smelling Salt Air Freshener 😂🧂 pic.twitter.com/NXeBY4VscD
— Nelk Boys (@nelkboys) April 17, 2025
The Nelk Boys launched the Metacard NFT mission in January 2022. The gathering of 10,000 Ethereum NFTs, every offered for about 0.8 ETH, round $2,300 on the time, and raised roughly $23 million.
As of the time of writing, the gathering is down 91% to a flooring value of $111, in accordance with CoinGecko knowledge.
The protection mentioned that the grievance didn’t establish any particular pre-sale misrepresentations, false statements, or proof that the plaintiff relied on when buying the Metacard NFT, and contended that the alleged guarantees largely matched the perks the plaintiff acknowledged receiving.
“Plaintiff’s claims rise and fall on what was mentioned earlier than he purchased his Metacard. However the grievance by no means identifies a pre-sale assertion. That’s dispositive,” the protection mentioned. “Every thing else—from post-sale feedback to generalities and remorse—is legally irrelevant.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants didn’t reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair and Josh Quittner
