Tom Brady, Giselle Bündchen, Larry David & Steph Curry Caught In FTX Crypto Fallout With Class Action Suit

“I’m never wrong about this stuff, never,” said a dismissive and scoffing Larry David earlier this year in that now infamous Super Bowl ad for investing in cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

While the Seinfeld co-creator rejected the wheel, coffee, the U.S. Constitution, electricity, putting a man on the moon and more innovations in the much praised commercial, looks like David might have been right about the now collapsed FTX, for all the good it’s going to do him.

Along with the likes of Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, and Naomi Osaka, David is now a defendant in a class action suit against the now hollowed out FTX and its ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

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“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 (read it here).

In the case of Curry, the NBA legend admitted in another tongue-in-cheek-ish TV spot that he was not that knowledgeable about crypto. He added, looking at the camera: “I don’t need to be. With FTX I have everything I need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely.”

Maybe not so much now that he and the others have to lawyer up.

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.

And here’s where it actually could get sticky for the celebs who lent their name and image to FTX.

“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.”

Valued at over $32 billion earlier this year, the Bahamas-based FTX and its corporate cousin crypto trader Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week. The harsh crash of the world’s third largest crypto exchange came as Bankman-Fried and other execs failed to lure more investors to help starve off billions and billions in losses over doubts in the company’s business model and asset management. Probably didn’t help either that FTX are being probed by the FTC, DOJ and others over moving investors’ cash around without permission.

Citing recent rulings and fines against the likes of Kim Kardashian and ex-Boston Celtic Paul Pierce over endorsement compensation non-disclosure, the complaint seeks unspecified actual, direct and compensatory damages that could run into the nine-figures and beyond based on the consumer base FTX drew from.

Undoubtedly all the big names will hire big lawyers to help get them off the hook here. Though, they might have to flip a bit more through the old Rolodex than usual, as celeb attorney David Boies is actually assisting representing Garrison in this action . Nonetheless, in the meantime, check out that Larry David ad that everyone found so amusing during the 2022 Super Bowl:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BH5-rSxilxo%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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