Martin Shkreli is in hot water thanks to a new lawsuit over the elusive Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
According to the Associated Press, the 41-year-old investor and “Pharma Bro” is being sued by cryptocurrency collective PleasrDAO, which is accusing him of illegally retaining and sharing digital copies of the unreleased, one-of-one Wu-Tang project—which Abe Beame listened to mere days ago and wrote about for Complex.
Shkreli purchased the sole existing copy of the album for a reported $2 million in 2015. He sold it on eBay for just over $1 million but had to forfeit the proceeds following his 2017 securities fraud conviction. The new suit says he retained digital copies of Shaolin and may have had plans to share them publicly.
The AP says that PleasrDAO bought the physical copy of the album but also its digital rights over two transactions in 2021 and 2024. Shkreli was responsible for destroying any trace of the files he held.
The complaint, as shared by Rob Freund on X, points to several occasions where Shkreli held listening parties during livestreams on YouTube and Discord.
In one instance during a 2022 livestream, Shkreli reportedly said, “Of course I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all around the world...I’m not stupid. I don’t buy something for $2 million dollars just so I can keep one copy.”
The lawsuit claims Shkreli appeared in a YouTube video last month confirming that he sent multiple copies of Shaolin to “50 different chicks.”
“Do you know how many blowjobs that album got me? You think I didn’t make a fucking copy of it? Are you joking?” he allegedly said before stating that “thousands” have listened to it.
“I sent the mp3s to all these people,” he reportedly said.
PleasrDAO, which anonymously bought the album for $4.75 million in 2021 from the federal government, says Shkreli violated the forfeiture order, harmed the album’s value, and misappropriated trade secrets, among other violations.
The company is seeking several forms of relief, including an injunction to prevent further misuse of the album, seizure or destruction of Shkreli’s retained copies, an accounting of any profits he may have made from his alleged actions, and damages for economic and reputational harm caused.
To read Abe Beame's experience hearing Once Upon a Time in Shaolin at the Angel Orensanz Foundation—a.k.a. the oldest standing synagogue left in New York City—head here.