Naomi Osaka and other sports personalities/celebrities are being sued for the promotion of FTX.

[Zardoz7/12]

Link to article. Via the Associated Press.

A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm’s failed business model.

FTX has been in the public eye for more than a week, after the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange ended up with billions of dollars worth of losses and had to seek bankruptcy protection on Friday. The Bahamas-based company and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, are under investigation by state and federal authorities for allegedly investing depositors funds in ventures without their approval.

Lawmakers also announced plans to investigate the failure of FTX, with the House Financial Services Committee saying it plans to hold a hearing on FTX in December.

Before its failure, FTX was known to use high-profile Hollywood and sports celebrities to promote its products. It had the naming rights to a Formula One racing team as well as a sports arena in Miami. Its commercials featured “Seinfeld” creator David, as well as Brady, the star quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry, and tennis star Naomi Osaka.

The lawsuit filed late Tuesday alleges that these sports and TV celebrities brought instant credibility to FTX, and should be held just as culpable as Bankman-Fried.

“Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment—like these Defendants—to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest ... pouring billions of dollars into the deceptive FTX platform to keep the whole scheme afloat,” the lawsuit said.

Class-action attorney Adam Moskowitz pointed to previous cases where the U.S. government fined celebrities Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather for promoting crypto.

“The crypto industry needed celebrity endorsers to get any credibility,” Moskowitz said.

 

[weakera]

Good.

 

[sureshs]

That is why I endorsed the Dunlop CX 200 Tour Limited Edition 18*20 on this forum only after demoing and then adopting it as my full-time frame. @stringertom

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Sam Bankman is most certainly fried here.

 

[InsuranceMan]

That is why I endorsed the Dunlop CX 200 Tour Limited Edition 18*20 on this forum only after demoing and then adopting it as my full-time frame. @stringertom

Setting the example. A man of integrity

 

[Kralingen]

Larry David was right.

 

[sureshs]

Sam Bankman is most certainly fried here.

People who banked on him will fry him as all the money they had in their bank is gone.

 

[sureshs]

Larry David was right.

He could not curb his enthusiasm.

 

[stringertom]

He could not curb his enthusiasm.

Can only be accomplished by watching your vids.

 

[The Fedfather]

I thought Shaq wasn't into crypto.

Anyway, why are they being sued? They were promoting FTX when it was doing fine legally. Surely it is unreasonable to presume without an investigation that these athletes somehow would be aware of the company's criminal activity.

 

[bluetrain4]

But the celebs used as marketing surely aren't financial experts and they don't work for the bank/exchange. So what's the theory of liability for them?

 

[Sudacafan]

I am suing companies that produce alcoholic beverages.

 

[ffw2]

I am suing companies that produce alcoholic beverages.

Pipe is on the table as an alternative?!

 

[Sudacafan]

Pipe is on the table as an alternative?!

It’s not. Then I will be suing news media companies.

 

[ffw2]

It’s not. Then I will be suing news media companies.

You wouldn't even necessarily have to use it for smoking.

Lotta folks these days are #onthepipe. Stigma's gone, by and large.

But you could just adorn your Christmas tree with it, if you celebrate.

 

[fundrazer]

I thought Shaq wasn't into crypto.

Anyway, why are they being sued? They were promoting FTX when it was doing fine legally. Surely it is unreasonable to presume without an investigation that these athletes somehow would be aware of the company's criminal activity.

Shaq did a voiceover in some stupid FTX commerical with Steph Curry. Forget exactly how it goes, but it comes across as Steph saying you don't need to "know" anything about crypto to invest in it with FTX. Kind of portrays the whole thing like slot machine gambling the way he says it.

I dunno how much legal standing there is, but these celebs need to be called out for this type of crap. For some others it's been more egregious such as intentionally shilling certain ****coins or NFTs.

 

[The Fedfather]

Shaq did a voiceover in some stupid FTX commerical with Steph Curry. Forget exactly how it goes, but it comes across as Steph saying you don't need to "know" anything about crypto to invest in it with FTX. Kind of portrays the whole thing like slot machine gambling the way he says it.

I dunno how much legal standing there is, but these celebs need to be called out for this type of crap. For some others it's been more egregious such as intentionally shilling certain ****coins or NFTs.

That's a weird choice of a marketing angle for crypto to begin with, IMO. Don't think many people who choose to invest in these riskier assets have the mentality of 'I don't care how it works and can fully rely on the corporate folks to have my best interests at heart'. Though with this "billions of dollars" FTX disaster coming to light, who knows?

 

[tennis_pro]

So if Tom Hanks starrs in a McDonald's commercial that means he's to blame for Americans becoming obese?

Good luck winning that lawsuit. A 21-year old half decent law student could win that case. Plus how incredibly dumb do you have to be to put your money in a new crypto exchange just because Tom Brady recommended it?

 

[bluetrain4]

So if Tom Hanks starrs in a McDonald's commercial that means he's to blame for Americans becoming obese?

Good luck winning that lawsuit. A 21-year old half decent law student could win that case. Plus how incredibly dumb do you have to be to put your money in a new crypto exchange just because Tom Brady recommended it?

Anyone can be sued for basically anything - in that their name can be attached to a lawsuit that is filed. Successfully suing someone is a whole other proposition. I'm betting the plaintiffs included celebs as defendants to increase attention. If the suit isn't dismissed and litigation continues, the celebs would move to be dismissed as defendants - and they'd most likely be successful. There's even the possibility that the plaintiffs would drop the celebs after amending the complaint.

 

[big ted]

if you buy crypto becuz of shaq or osaka you deserve what you get lol

 

[ChaelAZ]

This will be thrown out and is a waste of time and money.

Ever bit of investing all the people did in FTX was of their own doing and there will be plenty of documentation showing they were warned they could lose some or all of their capital. That is standard boiler plate sign-up and confirmation stuff in investing. And a celebrity is nothing more than a person paid to talk about a service or product to promote and advertise for the company.

 

[stringertom]

Unfortunately, The Dotard is running again, and his cult is still around and willing to vote for him. The US has a lot of work to do to regain our reputation after him. Lots of people in other countries see us as stupid and gullible because of the GQP party and Trump. It sucks but it's the truth.

And I, as an American, could easily fall into the dogma of labeling all Italians as seriously gullible and stupid now that the fascist Meloni has ascended to PM. Same for Modi in India.

I choose not to paint with a roller but with a fine brush when labeling countries’ intelligence quotients in relation to who is in political control at any one moment. Anyone not willing to look past the obvious weaknesses of visible leaders is just expressing the type of weak thinking that makes autocracy flourish. It seems you endorse that type of lazy analysis.

 

[legcramp]

 

[Oval_Solid]

I do everything a famous person tells me to
its impossible not to

 

[GoldenMasters]

Not your keys; not your coins. While FTX did commit huge fraud, it's also users fault for not realizing that holding crypto long term on any exchange is dumb.

 

[ollinger]

Tom Selleck getting a little nervous about his hawking reverse mortgages.

 

[jmnk]

This will be thrown out and is a waste of time and money.

Ever bit of investing all the people did in FTX was of their own doing and there will be plenty of documentation showing they were warned they could lose some or all of their capital. That is standard boiler plate sign-up and confirmation stuff in investing. And a celebrity is nothing more than a person paid to talk about a service or product to promote and advertise for the company.

I'm not sure that is what the issue here is. I mean suing celebrities because they are 'ambassadors' - yeah, that will likely not fly. but this "Ever bit of investing all the people did in FTX was of their own doing and there will be plenty of documentation showing they were warned they could lose some or all of their capital. That is standard boiler plate sign-up and confirmation stuff in investing." is not what apparently (although who really knows) happened here. What seems to have happened is that people lost funds that were not invested but simply deposited there. It's like you have account with Fidelity, and just keep your money there _in addition to whatever stocks_ Fidelity keeps for you. losing funds that were just deposited there is quite different than losing the majority or all of the _value of the stocks you have invested in_.

But again, who really knows what was going on in there.

 

[jindra]

FTX just the latest episode on a storied tradition in America of snake-oil salesmen and con artists.

 

[augustobt]

FTX just the latest episode on a storied tradition in America of snake-oil salesmen and con artists.

and its CEO starred another chapter of the story "sometimes you should remain silent'

 

[ChaelAZ]

What seems to have happened is that people lost funds that were not invested but simply deposited there. It's like you have account with Fidelity, and just keep your money there _in addition to whatever stocks_ Fidelity keeps for you. losing funds that were just deposited there is quite different than losing the majority or all of the _value of the stocks you have invested in_.

But again, who really knows what was going on in there.

I get that, but no one puts money in Fidelity or other investing institution as "savings", per se, though that sounds like what some people thought they were doing. I don't see it as malicious as what happened in China where people actually thought and were told money was being put in some kind of nationally protected savings, but really it was going into hedge funds and such, but maybe that is at the center of it. That gets especially muddy when things are international and for all intents and purposes, unregulated. There is not FDIC for anything associated with crypto. Any money held by those institutions (for lack of a better term) hold that money as their own capital. I dunno all those specifics, but the celebrities are paid or compensated spokes people and I would be willing to bet there are disclaimers in the commercials or ads with them, representing the risk of the company. That part will never stick unless a celeb specifically and individually contacted folks acting as a rep for the company, like payroll or such, or working on commission. To me that can cause liability, but that would be directed back to the company as the employer.

I have invested in crypto for a bit, but only in areas I understand. Too many people invested after watching YouTube and thinking it was like trading stocks, which is exactly what it is not. I have plenty of friends who have lost $100's of thousands now, even in Bitcoin, but more from buying these obscure meme coins that have not value as an actual coin, or useable process in the Metaverse to back their costs. FTX was one of the large exchanges though...that is crazy different, but this absolutely changes crypto as a whole, and not for the better.

 

[puiacalin91]

One friendly advice : Bitcoin , not crypto boys. Bitcoin, not web3. Bitcoin , not Nfts. Bitcoin , not Defi.

 

[jindra]

Friendly information: Bitcoin -65% YTD

 

[TimHenmanATG]

Naomi Osaka, cryptocurrency, and litigation all in one thread?

I'm looking forward to hearing the educated, nuanced, and intelligent commentary from the TTW denizens...