Ryder Ripps, Phunks NFT creative director accuses BAYC and others of racism

In a recent Twitter space, the Crypto punks’ creative director Ryder Ripps accused BAYC of racism in the origin, creation, and perception of the project. This Twitter space had over 5,000 listeners and Crypto-enthusiast loldefi hosted it. Many people were already casting doubts about the space’s purpose and were constantly defending BAYC.

However, Ryder’s racist remarks caused disunity inside the NFT community. While some people were in support of these allegations, others considered them a hoax.

What happened after Ryder’s accusations?

Following the space closure, a trending hashtag about the Bored Apes and its allegedly racist connotations gained momentum. According to those making the claims, the primary connection to racism comes from the creator’s name, Yuga Labs. Where this name itself is associated with white supremacist and racist caricatures found online. Several users also posted pictures of apes and associated them with Nazi SS and alt-right symbolism.

Moreover, some Twitter users have accused marketplaces of being biased since they removed Jungle Freaks over accusations of racism, but no step has been taken regarding BAYC.

On the other hand, fans and collectors of Bored Apes were quick to dismiss the claims of racism and fought back against Ryder Ripps. Twitter user @moonOverlord said “going, to be honest, this BAYC drama just feels like a cheap marketing tactic from Punks. It was cool when Punks were anti-establishment, anti centralization, but at this point, they are just openly attacking the top NFT projects 1 by 1. I’m dumping all my Punks, it’s cringe.”

Shortly after BAYC, Ryder Ripps also accused other NFT projects, including the HAPEBEASTGANG and Jungle Freaks, of supporting NAZI supremacy.

Tables Turned against Ryder

While the whole debate was ongoing, Loopify posted a series of pictures and screenshots which portrayed Ryder as a “hypocrite”. These screenshots depicted that Ryder was “fat-shaming” and was being disrespectful to the Chinese community. Not only this, the American rapper – Azealia Banks, shared a post on Instagram where she said that Ryder is only concerned about money.

In fact, Banks made some serious remarks against Ryder where she stated, “Then he gets upset about Beeple stealing the idea for some dumb collage and starts getting maniac about NFTs. Next, Ryder coerces me into putting the sex tape up because he’s obsessed with shock value and clout chasing and says he wants to make a million dollars selling NFTs.”

This is not the first time where an NFT collection has stirred up controversy. In November last year, the NFT community slammed Jungle Freaks’ NFT artist for his racist cartoons. More recently, the YEAR token airdrop turned out to be a scam, leaving tokens empty-handed.