A handful of people who attended Bored Ape Yacht Club’s ApeFest over the weekend have reportedly sought treatment for eye injuries, loss of vision, and severe sunburns, according to a report in The Verge.
Bored Ape is an NFT collection featuring algorithm-generated profile pictures of cartoon simians in various states of dress. The brand has utilized a high-interest/low-supply dynamic to steadily drive its prices up. This year’s ApeFest, held from November 3–5 in Hong Kong, was the third annual, after 2021’s inaugural event in New York City.
Several guests who attended the most recent event took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their harrowing medical experiences after the party. User @crypto_birb reported that he was diagnosed with “photokeratitis over both eyes, accident-related.” Photokeratitis is also known as “welder’s eye” and is caused by unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
“Woke up in the middle of the night after ApeFest with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital,” wrote another festival goer, who goes by Crypto June on X. “Doctor told me it was due to the UV from stage lights. I go to festivals often but have never experienced this.”
Related: Study Finds What Happened to Once-Pricey NFTs (And It’s Not Pretty)
Some attendees theorized that the medical issues may have arisen from faulty lighting at the event. Though it hasn't been confirmed, one social media post suggests that those affected were standing near the front of the stage.
I’ve seen several photos of the stage from this and these vertical lights are the same colour in all of them (ie they’re not RGB LED tape) please tell me some moron didn’t use sub 300nm UV again ?!? https://t.co/ccOSXuWWHh pic.twitter.com/yz0c1Ww9Qk
— Ross Henderson-McKillop (@rsmck) November 5, 2023
Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, addressed the controversy on social media. “Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than one percent of those attending and working the event had these symptoms,” the statement reads. “While nearly everyone has indicated their symptoms have improved, we encourage anybody who feels them to seek medical attention just in case.”
Apes, we are aware of the eye-related issues that affected some of the attendees of ApeFest and have been proactively reaching out to individuals since yesterday to try and find the potential root causes. Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those…
— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) November 6, 2023
Men’s Journal has reached out to Yuga Labs for comment, but a representative did not immediately respond to our request.
However, Emily Kitts, Yuga Labs’ spokesperson, did tell The Verge that “based on our estimates, the 15 people we’ve been in direct communication with so far represent less than one percent of the approximately 2,250 event attendees and staff at our Saturday night event.”
POV: You bought an expensive JPEG and flight to Hong Kong to attend a festival and almost lose your eye sight.
— YallahHabibi 🦠(@YallahHabibiBTC) November 5, 2023
Yuga never disappoints. pic.twitter.com/Ob3Ry4OApW
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/leYZs6B
0 comments