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Cameo is throwing a swanky NFT party days after mass layoffs

The company plans to host celebrities and NFT holders in a rented Miami Beach mansion.

Miami

Days after laying off close to 90 staffers, Cameo is partying in Miami.

Photo: George Pagan III/Unsplash

Mere days after laying off 87 employees, Cameo’s remaining executives are heading to Miami to party: The company is going forward with its plans to host an F1 NFT party in Miami Beach, Protocol has learned. The party coincides with the Miami Beach Race Weekend, and Cameo has invited some of its celebrity talent pool as well as owners of its Cameo Pass NFTs to attend.

Cameo CEO Steven Galanis told Protocol that the party was part of the company's Cameo Pass program, which launched in February. "We sold 6,000 Cameo Pass NFTs with the promise to use the proceeds to invest in these types of unique and authentic experiences. […] We are grateful to our loyal customers who are part of this community, and our participation is independent of our decision to right-size our business,” Galanis said in a statement emailed to Protocol following the publication of this story.

The party is scheduled to be held Saturday at a rented mansion on Star Island, a manmade island that houses an exclusive gated private community. Some of the more notable Star Island residents reportedly include Gloria Estefan and Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin.

Cameo laid off 87 staffers on Wednesday, including the company’s CTO, CPO, chief people officer and a senior marketing executive. Cameo CEO Steven Galanis called the layoffs "right-sizing," and said they would help “balance our costs with our cash reserves” in a statement shared with Protocol.

Galanis also called the layoffs a “brutal day at the office” on Twitter. This prompted a response from TechCrunch writer Lucas Matney, who noted that Galanis’ Bored Ape profile picture may have cost as much as the salaries of five of the affected employees.

Update: 2:09 p.m. PT: This story was updated with a statement from Cameo CEO Steven Galanis.

Janko Roettgers

Janko Roettgers (Twitter, Mastodon) used to be a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.

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