Multiple Celebrities Pegged for FTX Lawsuit

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Tom Brady, Naomi Osaka, Larry David, and more are under scrutiny for endorsing the service.

Since his resignation as the chair of crypto exchange FTX and the company’s subsequent declaration of bankruptcy, Sam Bankman-Fried has found himself at the center of a swirling controversy. The collapse of FTX has done major damage to the value of even the most steadfast cryptocurrencies, and investors are out for their pound of flesh from Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried is now the major defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed in Florida earlier this week. The lawsuit alleges that Bankman-Fried’s efforts to promote FTX and its usage effectively amounted to a ponzi scheme, with him encouraging investment with the express purpose of enriching himself. In the lawsuit’s words, FTX was “designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country, who utilize mobile apps to make their investments.”

In addition to Bankman-Fried, though, numerous prominent celebrities have also been named as defendants in the case. Individuals including, but not limited to, Tom Brady, Naomi Osaka, Larry David, Shaquille O’Neal, David Ortiz, Shohei Ohtani, Trevor Lawrence and Udonis Haslem have all been pegged by the case. Each of these celebrities, at one point or another, publicly endorsed the FTX platform, whether on their personal social media or through commercial deals.

The lawsuit is seeking $11 billion in damages to users of the FTX platform. It is not clear how much of that would come from Bankman-Fried’s pocket and how much would come from his celebrity endorsers.

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