At least 15 attendees of Yuga Labs' ApeFest event have reported serious eye injuries hours after the program allegedly due to the stage's lighting.
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Yuga Labs Event Caused Too Much UV Light Exposure
From November 3 to 5, Yuga Labs hosted a celebration for the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs in Hong Kong. During the second day, there was reportedly a brightly lit party where several of the attendees experienced an "eye burn" and other symptoms after the event. Some attendees claimed that doctors diagnosed them with photokeratitis or "welder's eye" due to prolonged exposure to UV rays.
Woke up in the middle of the night after Apefest with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital. I've seen several tweets about it
Doctor told me it was due to the UV from stage lights. I go to festivals often but have never experienced this
I try to understand…— Crypto June 💎🎯 (@CryptoJune777) November 5, 2023
Meanwhile, Yuga Labs wrote to Variety that the company was already aware of the situation. Aside from eye pain and vision issues, there were also reports of skin irritation. "We are distressed by these reports, as nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our community, many of whom we spent significant facetime with over the weekend," the company added.
Moreover, Yuga Labs explained that the 15 attendees that they have directly communicated only represent less than one percent of the overall attendees of 2,250 during the Saturday night event.
Yuga Labs Reaches Out to Other Attendees
After claims were posted on social media, Yuga Labs also addressed the situation with a brief post on X citing that they are actively reaching out to the individuals since yesterday and have been investigating the root cause of the problem. The company also encourages symptomatic attendees to seek medical attention.
However, some X users showed their disappointment towards Yuga Labs' handling of the situation. The potentially dangerous incident bears similarity to a 2017 HypeBeast party where attendees reported eye damage. The event's DJ later admitted that the lighting that was used during the event was Philips bulbs that emit UV-C and were often used as a disinfectant.
From the PR team:
— Shad (@madladshad) November 6, 2023
- Guys completely downplay it, make it look like a small number, eg... less than 1%
- Make it look like you're actively helping and solving
- Try to 'Find' the 'Potential' root causes, even though we know exactly what it was
Bruh
Other diagnosed attendees also encouraged other individuals to seek medical attention as the problem may cause long-lasting vision impairment and other serious damage if not treated properly and immediately.
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