Geffen Countersues Sun Over Giacometti Sculpture Dispute

Geffen Alleges Fraud in Giacometti Deal

In a statement to Artnet on 17 April a lawyer for Sun, William Charron, qualified Geffen’s allegations as “incredibly misguided”. Geffen, whose collection is stated to be worth around $2bn, declares in his countersuit that Sunlight was eager to sell the Giacometti in the wake of the 2022 cryptocurrency collision and the subsequent theft by cyberpunks of $115m from 2 firms linked to Sun. Geffen’s problem further claims that Sun removed incriminating WhatsApp messages in an effort to “reclaim” Le Nez and misrepresented the collecting power of his NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace, ApeNFT.

In a statement to Artnet on 17 April a legal representative for Sun, William Charron, characterised Geffen’s accusations as “very illinformed”. “It is extremely foolish for Mr Geffen to have laid his situation on his proclaimed innocence of Sydney Xiong,” Charron stated.

Sun Claims Trademark Forgery in Initial Lawsuit

The sculpture in question, Le Nez (1947 ), which Sun bought for $78.4 million at a 2021 Sotheby’s sale in New York. In his preliminary claim, filed in February, Sun declared that the art adviser Sydney Xiong forged his trademark on papers, taking benefit of his naïveté as a newcomer to the art market.

Lawyers Trade Barbs Over Sculpture Dispute

The lawful battle in between the music executive David Geffen and the crypto-magnate Justin Sunlight over a $78.4 m Alberto Giacometti sculpture took a new turn this week when Geffen filed a countersuit, attracting a rebuke from Sunlight’s lawyers.

In a declaration emailed to Artnet Information, Tibor Nagy, Geffen’s lawyer, created: “Vendor’s sorrow is not a basis to take legal action against. Luckily, most affordable and serious individuals realise that, not Justin Sun. Our filing separates his fiction from the realities and lays bare for the public the fraudulent cases he has brought. Courts of law are the wrong sector for attention stunts.”

Sun’s Previous Art Purchases Under Scrutiny

Last November, at an additional closely-watched Sotheby’s auction in New york city, Sun acquired Maurizio Cattelan’s viral justification The Comic (2019 ), an item containing a banana duct-taped to a wall surface, for $6.2 m.

Countersuit Details Allegations Against Sun

Geffen, whose collection is said to be worth around $2bn, declares in his countersuit that Sun aspired to offer the Giacometti following the 2022 cryptocurrency accident and the succeeding burglary by hackers of $115m from two companies connected to Sun. The countersuit claims that Sun has participated in multiple instances of “illegal and/or dishonest service tasks” with former employees and has actually never ever submitted an authorities record against Xiong. Geffen’s complaint better claims that Sun erased incriminating WhatsApp messages in an effort to “redeem” Le Nez and misrepresented the collecting power of his NFT (non-fungible token) market, ApeNFT.