Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Sued for Allegedly Copying, Sharing One-of-One Wu-Tang Clan Album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’

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.