Less than six months after his controversial (and as usual, long deleted) Instagram post that read “don’t fucking talk to me about NFTs”, Kanye West joined the growing list of celebrities who have filed trademark applications for NFTs in the past year.
Kanye West - now known as Ye - filed 17 trademark applications under his Yeezus brand name on the 27th of May. Reported filings include amusement parks, physical and online retail stores, toys, games and sporting equipment, campaign buttons, clothing and bags, household items, cosmetics and more importantly, blockchain-based currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
This has raised speculation as to what the ingenious Kanye has planned for the metaverse. He did say, “ask me later” at the end of his anti-NFT post. However, it seems more likely that Kanye might just be trying to ensure others do not use the Yeezus brand name on these platforms.
But Kanye isn’t the only celebrity allegedly jumping on the NFT wave.
The likes of David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Chuck Norris and more recently, Billie Eilish have also made patent applications for NFTs. Recently, Eilish’s music company, Lash Music LLC, submitted 2 trademark applications to cover NFTs, virtual currencies and digital collectibles using the Blohsh logo and the singer's name.
Yes, NFTs come with financial incentives. But for veteran celebrities and young stars, affiliations with the metaverse also offers a fresh opportunity for brand building and deeper engagement with fans. Many are taking the first step by filing NFT trademarks. Others like Paris Hilton and Shaq are now more established in the space. There is an explosion in web 3 and celebrities are not left out in the wave of adoption.
