Rusty Surfboards Pays Queer Artist $15,000 After Viral Dispute

"Rusty as a global brand did the right thing, and they were very unhappy with how I was treated by their licensee."

Three days back one of the world’s great surfboard brands, Rusty, was accused of stiffing a queer gal artist of fifteen-gees for a mural she painted on the wall of their Carlsbad store, a short skip from Chas Smith’s pink palace as it happens. 

Hanna Daly, a forty-two-year-old surfer, claimed she spent one thousand bucks of her own money making the mural for Rusty in July, 2023, and was told payment was forthcoming.

Then, two years of nothing, until Daly posted a reel of her taking the Rusty logo out of the mural. 

Daly wrote,

Update: @rustysurfboards has decided to spend money on a lawyer instead of paying artists. I got an intimidating email from their lawyer yesterday full of inaccuracies and threats.

This after they said they would have me fully paid within two weeks.

The reel was viewed 27 million times, liked 104,000 times with almost three thousand comments and 315 shares.

“Now 10.9 million people know the brand is bad news and can’t be trusted – was it worth not paying for the job?” wrote one fan, indicative of the general mood.

Now, good news, after Rusty Australia stepped in to pay their Californian cuz’s bill. 

 

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A post shared by Hanna Daly (@hannasmurals)

Daly writes,

I got paid thanks to all of your support! To be clear, @rustyworldwide stepped in and did the right thing by paying me even though this was not their responsibility. The mural was commissioned by local San Diego @rustysurfboards and they are the only one at fault here.

Rusty as a global brand did the right thing, and they were very unhappy with how I was treated by their licensee.

Please be respectful of all Rusty surfers and team members. They are not at all involved in this matter. And the matter is resolved thanks to the attention it received.

Have a great day everyone!

Anyone out there a freelancer or a tradie? How many times you been stiffed? I don’t lift a dang finger anymore unless I know I’m gonna get paid, either before or on delivery.