Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Stephen Curry, Larry David, And More Have Been Named In A Class Action Lawsuit Against Defunct Crypto Trader FTX

Looks like Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen have more to worry about than just their celebrity divorce, as the former couple has been named in a class action lawsuit against the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, along with other celebrity investors and promoters, like Larry David, Stephen Curry, and the Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, and Naomi Osaka. Oh, no, not Naomi! But wait–where’s Matt Damon‘s name on this list?! He’s shilled crypto too! Round ’em all up!

All those celebrity crypto ads are coming back to bite these rich assholes in their rich assholes because now that lots of people are going broke from investing in the crashing crypto market. And those people are partly blaming the celebrities involved for deceiving them. The FTX was the biggest crypto trading platform, and last Friday, it filed for bankruptcy along with its “corporate cousin” crypto trader Alameda Research. The CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, is now under investigation by the FTC and the DOJ as billions of dollars are reportedly unaccounted for. And that could mean embezzlement charges, baby. CNN says authorities in the Bahamas, where FTX is head-quartered, also announced an investigation after the bankruptcy. And since then, Bitcoin–the world’s largest cryptocurrency–has plummeted, along with the others. Bitcoin was falling even before this and has dropped 65% in value this year. The second best, Ether, also sunk 20% in value in the last week.

Deadline says that now, at least one class action lawsuit has been filed against FTX and several celebrities who promoted it. Larry David did a Super Bowl ad for FTX last year:

Gisele and Tom promoted it:

Sadly, my girl Naomi took a check from them too:

The list just goes on. And now those celebrities have been accused of taking part in this deception and are facing a lawsuit:

“In addition to the conduct of Defendant Sam Bankman-Fried, as described in this Complaint, some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment have either invested in FTX or been brand ambassadors for the company,” says the jury trial seeking complaint filed in federal court in Florida today by Edwin Garrison on behalf of all the “American consumers” who “collectively sustained over $11 billion dollars in damages” from FTX’s recent crash. “A number of them hyped FTX to their social media fans, driving retail consumer adoption of the Deceptive FTX Platform,” the graphics heavy class action adds.

…The heavy use of celebrities convinced consumers to pour “billions of dollars into the deceptive FTX platform to keep the whole scheme afloat,” the filing by attorney Adam Moskowitz and a brigade of other lawyers goes on to say. “The Deceptive FTX Platform maintained by the FTX Entities was truly a house of cards, a Ponzi scheme where the FTX Entities shuffled customer funds between their opaque affiliated entities, using new investor funds obtained through investments in the YBAs and loans to pay interest to the old ones and to attempt to maintain the appearance of liquidity,” it also says, getting to the larger point.

The lawsuit goes on to say that celebrities should have disclosed that they took a check to promote that mess:

“Importantly, although Defendants disclosed their partnerships with the FTX Entities, they have never disclosed the nature, scope, and amount of compensation they personally received in exchange for the promotion of the Deceptive FTX Platform, which the SEC has explained that a failure to disclose this information would be a violation of the anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws,” the wide-ranging filing notes. “Moreover, none of these defendants performed any due diligence prior to marketing these FTX products to the public.”

Womp-womp! Well, I think that they should take Shaq’s name out of this lawsuit. Not because he holds no culpability but because he’s a Flat-Earther and questions why lake water doesn’t spin out of the planet. So… if you’re listening to his advice on anything, I think that legally, that should be on you.

Pic: John Nacion/Startraksphoto/Fayes Vision/Cover Images