A class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday against the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried names a host of celebrities, including football legend Tom Brady, comedian Larry David and basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in southern Florida by an FTX investor, Edwin Garrison, on behalf of other investors in the cryptocurrency exchange, whose owners are seeking bankruptcy and are liquidating the company.
The lawsuit seeks to make FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried and the celebrities who promoted the cryptocurrency exchange “responsible for the many billions of dollars in damages” the former investors lost after the market collapsed this month through compensatory damages.
“Defendants’ misrepresentations and omissions made and broadcast around the country through the television and internet render them liable,” the lawsuit alleges of the celebrities named in the suit.
The Hill has reached out to FTX for comment.
Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of FTX and filed for bankruptcy last week after an affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research, lost billions of dollars on risky bets.
The shocking downfall of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges has prompted outrage, including on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are expected to hold a hearing on the issue next month.
As many as 1 million users who had traded and purchased assets on FTX could face losses.
