Celebs-in-crypto-lawsuits

Nadia Tahir

9/21/2024

Celebs-in-crypto-lawsuits-from-Kim-Karda

Transcript

00:00Hey hamsters, we are loving our celebrities lately, which is why today's topic is once

00:10again celebrities, only this time the ones in hot water for their participation in crypto.

00:20Let's dive into 5 situations when celebrities have found themselves up against the law.

00:26Like a hamster who has now set foot on a scorching hot wheel, this one is about to

00:31get spicy.

00:32First on the list is the former basketball player and now sports analyst Shaquille O'Neal.

00:38O'Neal joins this list as a defendant as part of a lawsuit that has been going on for

00:44over a year over the NFT Astrals project, which was said to be his brainchild and may

00:50be classified as unregistered securities.

00:53As part of this lawsuit, the basketball player was accused of abandoning his collection of

00:5810,000 NFTs following the collapse of the FTX crypto trading platform back in 2022.

01:05He also allegedly used promotional social media posts and contests to dupe investors

01:10into participating in the project in the first place.

01:14Quote in the case is that O'Neal personally invited fans to an Astrals Discord channel

01:20so they could interact directly on a daily basis.

01:24For this reason, it is the investors who have brought forward this legal action since it

01:29is their belief O'Neal and various businesses related to the project caused them to suffer

01:34financial harm.

01:39District Judge Moreno has been claiming that O'Neal's actions were similar to those of

01:44the BitConnect promoters.

01:46He allegedly told his followers in an online video that the Astrals team had big plans

01:52for their NFTs, urging them to hop on the wave before it's too late.

01:57In defense, O'Neal is said to be not a seller of securities as understood by law since these

02:02NFTs don't even really count as securities.

02:06But perhaps the biggest battle was actually serving O'Neal.

02:10Adam Moskowitz of the Moskowitz law firm said he was engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with

02:16one of the NBA's biggest personas, which was holding up the case's progress.

02:20Eventually, O'Neal was served outside his house, which his lawyers also rebuttled saying

02:26papers were instead thrown at his car.

02:31Regardless of how it played out, the reality we do know is that O'Neal was served in relation

02:36to both Astrals and the FTX lawsuit.

02:40In the most recent update issued August 2024, the FTX case and the Astrals NFT case are

02:48being litigated in a trial court in the 11th Circuit.

02:51Sue Moreno's analysis of the 11th Circuit precedent in the context of a celebrity's

02:57endorsement of her crypto products is said to draw the attention of fellow Miami federal

03:02judge.

03:03However, the court did dismiss the allegation that O'Neal was someone who exercised power

03:08or in legal terms a court person, so at least now he'll only have to defend himself on some

03:14of the allegations.

03:15In number two we have the legal battle over Kim Kardashian's crypto ad.

03:20Yes, even Ms. Kim K didn't go unscathed.

03:23If you know how I feel, why would you say that?

03:26The Kardashian, who has an impressive following of 330 million Instagram followers and 73.7

03:33million followers on X, didn't disclose that Ethereum Max paid her $2,050,000 to publish

03:41an Instagram post about its tokens.

03:43The post in question read,

03:45Sharing what my friends just told me about the Ethereum Max token.

03:49The SEC had previously issued a warning back in November 2017.

03:55At this time, the government agency told celebrities looking to cash in on the emerging digital

04:00asset space that U.S. rules require they are disclosed when they are being paid to

04:05endorse cryptos.

04:06And it appears Kim K did not.

04:09Of course, to make matters worse, investors who bought EMAX tokens alleged they had suffered

04:15losses after listening to celebrity influencer like Kim K about the value of the crypto.

04:21Eww, this is so cringe.

04:24Guilty.

04:25They also claimed the defendants, Kim K and the other celebs, engaged in a conspiracy

04:30to artificially inflate the value of these tokens.

04:34In an article on CNBC, the U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald wrote that he recognized

04:40that the lawsuit's claims raised legitimate worries about celebrities' ability to persuade

04:46their followers to buy snake oil with unprecedented ease and reach.

04:51Her lawyer went on to share that Kardashian fully cooperated with the SEC from the very

04:57beginning and she remains willing to do whatever she can to assist the SEC in this matter.

05:03The lawyer's continues, the agreement she reached with the SEC allows her to avoid a

05:08protracted dispute so that she can move forward with her many different business pursuits.

05:14The Hollywood Reporter reported that she settled the case for $1.3 million.

05:20NFL Quarterback Tom Brady Also on the list was Tom Brady, who faced

05:24a lawsuit for endorsing the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

05:29The complaint argues celebrities who are deemed credible, leaned their authority to the now

05:34defunct exchange and are thereby responsible for the billions of dollars in damages that

05:40were caused.

05:41And in this case, Tom Brady joins the likes of Naomi Osaka, the tennis player, baseball

05:49player David Big Papi Ortiz, Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank and Giselle Bundchen, the

05:56supermodel.

05:57So, hey, at least he's in great company.

06:00Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan also faced charges from the

06:04SEC for violating laws in promoting cryptos and not disclosing she was being compensated

06:11for doing so or what that compensation was.

06:16Only this time it wasn't in connection to FTX, it was in connection to Justin Sun's

06:21Tron.

06:22This case was in connection to Sun's companies, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation

06:27Limited and Rainbury Inc., previously known as BitTorrent for the unregistered offer and

06:33sale of the crypto securities Tronics, TRX and BitTorrent, BTT.

06:39The SEC stated that Sun and companies offered and sold these crypto securities as investments

06:46via bounty programs, which directed interested parties to promote the tokens on social media,

06:52join and recruit others to Tron-affiliated Telegram and Discord channels, and create

06:57BitTorrent accounts in exchange for TRX and BTT distributions.

07:02Lindsay Lohan, who was just one of the celebrities involved in this case, agreed to pay $400,000

07:09in disgorgement, interest and other penalties to settle the legal charges.

07:13However, she, like her counterparts, did not admit or deny the SEC's findings.

07:19Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton In another class-action lawsuit, Paris Hilton,

07:24Jimmy Fallon and other celebrities were alleged to have been conspiring in a scheme to inflate

07:30the price of Bored Ape NFTs in an attempt to make themselves rich.

07:35Jimmy Fallon, in The Tonight Show, not only introduced the Bored Ape collection to his

07:40audience, but also how to purchase them.

07:43In a November 2021 segment, he presents MoonPay, a payment company that would allow customers

07:49to buy crypto with payment systems like credit cards, saying he bought his first NFT through it.

07:55He shares MoonPay, MoonPay.

07:57I did my homework, MoonPay, which is like PayPal, but for crypto.

08:01Of course, the following January 2022, if you are keeping track, Paris Hilton showed

08:07her ape on the show, telling Fallon, you said you got it on MoonPay, so I went and I copied you.

08:18Fallon was then requested to testify in the Bored Ape Yacht Club case.

08:23However, he did attempt to quash this request in a petition that stated,

08:27Indeed, Mr. Fallon's only alleged connection to Yuga is that he acquired a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT

08:34and mentioned it on two episodes of The Tonight Show.

08:37With his lawyers, his aim was to legally reject the court's order that instructed him to testify in the case.

08:44However, at the same time, he also found himself expected to testify with Paris Hilton

08:49as a co-defendant in a Yuga Labs separate security litigation.

08:54Double whammy!

08:56That's all for today, thanks for watching, subscribe and remember,

08:59Hamsters have power, one for all and all for one!

09:02Bye!

09:04you

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