Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Shaq and Naomi Osaka among celebrities sued in class-action crypto lawsuit
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and a number of other big-name sports celebrities, including Stephen Curry and Naomi Osaka, were named as defendants in a class-action crypto lawsuit filed in Florida on Tuesday.
The class-action suit was filed against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a number of celebrities who endorsed FTX, a crypto trading company. In addition to Brady, Curry and Osaka, Shaquille O'Neal, David Ortiz, Shohei Ohtani, Trevor Lawrence and Udonis Haslem are all named as defendants. Brady's ex-wife and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, comedian Larry David and "Shark Tank" personality Kevin O'Leary are also named in the suit, as are the Golden State Warriors, a prominent partner of FTX.
The suit alleges Bankman-Fried and those celebrities promoted and encouraged others to invest in FTX, which the lawsuit describes as a "fraudulent scheme." The lawsuit claims FTX was "designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country, who utilize mobile apps to make their investments."
FTX filed for bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried resigned as the company's CEO on Nov. 11. A day prior to announcing FTX's bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried sent out a multi-tweet thread on Twitter. It began with Bankman-Fried apologizing and saying he, "F***ed up, and should have done better." He also referred to himself as, "Not a good dev."
The lawsuit seeks $11 billion in damages.
Tom Brady appeared in FTX advertisement with Gisele Bundchen
Brady, and all the other celebrities mentioned in the suit, are being sued for promoting FTX. Every celebrity mentioned appeared in some type of ad for FTX. Larry David's FTX ad was shown during the Super Bowl.
Brady and Bundchen did an ad together which features them trying to recruit people to use the company.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, so it will be some time before it is determined whether FTX owes consumers $11 billion, or an additional amount. It's also unclear how much, if any, damages Brady and the other celebrities will pay to consumers.
There's a chance that number will be zero. Even if that's the case, FTX's failure is yet another example that fans shouldn't get financial advice from NFL stars.
