Bored Ape UV Light Eye Damage Controversy

Submission 7,793

Part of a series on Bored Ape Yacht Club. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Bored Ape UV Light Eye Damage Controversy, also known as ApeFest 2023 UV Burns Controversy, refers to discussions and reactions about the 2023 edition of ApeFest, a promotional convention held by the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection that took place in Hong Kong in early November 2023, after many members reported having irritated eyes, issues with vision and even temporary blindness after leaving the event. While initial speculation revolved around the possibility of a pink eye outbreak, consensus later settled on the event possibly having been lit by UV germicidal lights instead of normal blue lights. News of the purported injuries sustained by attendees trended online in the days following the convention, resulting in discourse and memes appearing online, many mocking in nature.

Background

The 2023 edition of ApeFest was held in Hong Kong from November 3rd to November 5th.^[1] Bored Ape's official X^[2]^[3] (formerly Twitter) account posted promotional updates, with some photos showing the venue lined with glowing blue tube lights (seen below).

X^[4] user @Feld4014 made a post on November 5th, 2023, denoting a burning sensation in his eyes after attending ApeFest 2023. Shortly after, various other attendees responded to his post reporting similar symptoms and speculating as to what could have caused them.

In addition to posts about eye damage following the event, there were also reports of skin irritation allegedly stemming from ApeFest.^[10]

Developments

On November 6th, 2023, Bored Ape Yacht Club's official X^[5] account made a post regarding attendees of ApeFest suffering from eye-related issues. The post attempted to assure people that "less than 1%" of all attendees had reported eye damage and gathered over 2,000 likes, 1,600 retweets and 1,000 replies in a day (seen below).

Soon after, X^[6]^[7] users @zachxbt and @ahitposter replied to the aforementioned post with jokes, each garnering thousands of likes in less than 24 hours (seen below).

Online Reactions

In the following days, the story was widely reported on by various media companies, as well as generating numerous reactions, memes and other discussions across social media.^[9]^[10]

On November 6th, 2023, X^[8] user @atomicthumbs made a post documenting some images from Apefest, saying that UV lighting was responsible for the various reports of people suffering from eye injuries. The user also noted that a similar event occurred during a HypeBeast event in Hong Kong in 2017. The post gathered over 24,000 likes in a day (seen below).

On November 7th, webcomic artist Stonetoss posted a comic about the controversy to his X account,^[11] receiving over 3,700 likes in roughly three hours (shown below).