Martin Shkreli Admits He Ruined Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” Rarity

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Martin Shkreli revealed he had no idea how many people have copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album on Monday (September 30). According to a sworn declaration obtained by AllHipHop, Shkreli said there was no way for him to account for everyone who received copies when he owned the album.


“Between 2015 and 2021, I recall occasionally sharing the Musical Work, primarily by sending digital files of the Musical Work to others via email,” Shkreli told the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “I also saved copies of the Musical Work on USB or other drives and gave those drives to others. Because I shared the Musical Work several times several years ago, I cannot recall each and every time that I have shared the Musical Work.”

Shkreli said more people likely obtained copies of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin from his livestreams. He mentioned three times he played songs on X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube.

“It is possible, and indeed I find it highly likely, that one of the many people who viewed, heard or otherwise accessed the Musical Work via my social media recorded the Musical Work and retains a copy of the same,” he stated.

PleaserDAO, the current owner of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, sued Shkreli in June. The company accused him of violating a forfeiture order and diminishing the album’s value.

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Shkreli initially taunted PleaserDAO in response to their lawsuit. The convicted felon claimed he deleted his copies of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in his sworn declaration.

“After I transferred copies of fifteen tracks of the Musical Work to defense counsel, I deleted my copies, and I now no longer possess any copies of any tracks of the Musical Work,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge, I do not have any additional tracks of the Musical Work in my possession to be transferred to counsel.”

PleaserDAO started selling Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as a $1 NFT, but buyers weren’t given full access to the album. Each purchase came with a five-minute sampler and took 88 seconds off the October 2103 release date.