NRL quarterback Trevor Lawrence and YouTube influencers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash have reportedly filed a lawsuit against defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX Lawsuit over alleged deficient compensation disclosures in promotions settled.
According to a report by Bloomberg on September 16, three well-known individuals have reached a proposed agreement, but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Lawrence, Pavrat and Nash are reportedly the first of the high-profile celebrities and influencers involved in the class-action lawsuit to reach a settlement.
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Other celebrity defendants in the class action lawsuit include Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Kevin O’Leary, Shaquille O’Neal, Naomi Osaka and David Ortiz
Meanwhile, Pavrat and Nash are among eight YouTubers accused of failing to disclose their compensation. The other six include Graham Stephan, Andre Jihe, Jaspreet Singh, Brian Jung, Jeremy Lefebvre and Erika Kuhlberg.
Creators Agency LLC, the talent management company behind the FTX promotion, is also named in the lawsuit.
On September 11, a court filing revealed that FTX is considering how to recoup millions of dollars it paid celebrity athletes and sports teams to promote the cryptocurrency exchange before it went bankrupt in November 2022.
According to the documents, Trevor Lawrence received $205,555, Shaquille O’Neal received approximately $750,000, and Kevin O’Leary topped the list with $2,348,338.
The class-action lawsuit was originally filed on March 15, claiming that the influencers failed to fully disclose the true nature of their FTX promotions and were in fact paid content rather than content motivated by genuine interest:
“Although FTX paid Defendants generous fees to promote its brand and encourage its followers to invest, Defendants failed to disclose the nature and extent of its sponsorship and/or endorsement deals, payments and compensation, and failed to conduct adequate, if any words) due diligence.”
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