Pudgy Penguins NFT Collection in Disarray—the Project’s Owners Come Under Fire

Pudgy Penguins NFT collection is in muddy waters after their previous Discord Moderator took to Twitter to talk about the founders’ alleged “unprofessional” behaviour. According to Darth, a.k.a coldpizza.eth, the Pudgy Penguins team “randomly promoted” Darth to a Community Manager. The promotion, however, came without the two agreeing to any “new terms”. 

“Last night I decided to leave the team after seeing how unprofessional the founders handled my situation,” Darth tweeted on December 11. In an earlier tweet, he also said, “I got compared to being a cash register worker” and that he has listed all his Pudgy Penguin NFTs. 

Tweet from coldpizza.eth via @0xDarth

Twitter divided

Darth claimed that Pudgy Penguins Co-Founder, Cole offered him 1 ETH to keep his “mouth shut”. However, Darth rejected the offer. He also hosted a Twitter Space to talk about the issue. Soon after, several Twitter users came forward in Darth’s support. 

Popular collector and curator, OhhShiny, for instance, said: “Sometimes the most courageous thing you can do is taking a stand for what you deserve.” They further added, “Standing with @0xDarth and all the community managers that are the true lifeblood of this space.”

Several others expressed how “sorry” they were to hear about the situation. @fungibles3 even offered Darth a $200,000 job. 

However, not everyone was on the former moderator’s side. Several users shared a screenshot of a conversation between Darth and Brighty, where the former said he’ll “fud Pudgies to zero”.

Screenshot of alleged chat between Darth and Brighty. Credits: Eggs via @ethereggs

As the screenshot went viral, Darth said he was “reacting emotionally” and said “something that i didnt mean.”

“Today was not pre meditated,” he added. “im sorry to the community.” Brighty, a.k.a Bright Avian, too came forward to say that sharing the screenshot wasn’t “right” and was a “stupid mistake”.

Pudgy Penguins issue statement

As the Pudgy Penguins NFT project came under fire, the team put out a statement on Discord. They also hosted a Twitter Space to share their side of the story. In the statement, the founders said that the team was “exploring” potentially hiring Darth as Community Manager. However, Darth joined a public Twitter Space after the parties failed to reach an agreement. There, he allegedly discussed “private, internal business information and conversations”. 

The statement issued by the founders of Pudgy Penguins NFT collection. Credits: Pudgy Penguins/Discord

“We do not have any ill will towards Darth,” they added. “But he will not be hired as Community Manager and he has also been removed from his position as a Discord Moderator. We are sad to see him leave this team but unfortunately it was no longer an option to keep working with him.”

Furthermore, Cole took to Twitter to say that the team has “utmost respect towards” Darth. Darth, however, countered, saying: “If you guys had respect for me, you would have treated me as such.”

Tweet from coldpizza.eth via @0xDarth

Tweet from Darth via @0xDarth

Launched in July this year, the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection had quickly surged in value. While currently it’s unclear who is right, we expect more clarity in the coming days.