Elijah Wood, best known for starring in Lord of the Rings, was among those who had invested in the collection.
An NFT project that was backed by a celebrity has suffered heavy sell-offs after controversial cartoons from the artist's past surfaced.
Elijah Wood, best known for starring in Lord of the Rings, was among those who had invested in the collection.
But scandal emerged when some of Trosley’s cartoons, dating back to the 1970s, emerged.
Some featured depictions of the Ku Klux Klan, while others showed a black man covered in blood being arrested at the scene of a murder. Another showed two white bears encountering black bears spray painting swearwords on rocks.
The controversial art was published in Hustler magazine. After they came to light, Elijah Wood tweeted:
“After previously purchasing some NFTs, as well as being gifted one, I was made aware of some of the artist’s prior disturbing cartoons. Upon learning of this, I immediately sold the NFTs as I wholly denounce any form of racism. I have donated the funds from the sale of the NFTs to LDF and Black Lives Matter.”
The value of Jungle Freaks has now plunged dramatically.
Creators React
In a statement, George Trosley’s son said “the cartoons my father drew are horrible” — and he stressed that the Jungle Freaks do not support or condone racism in any way. He added:
This appeared to be undermined by a video statement that followed, in which George Trosley argued that the cartoons were designed to “call attention to social injustices in America.”