In a now-infamous commercial for the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Tom Brady calls his friends with one simple question: “you in?”
The legendary NFL quarterback tells everyone he’s investing money in the platform, and they should, too. “FTX: the most trusted way to buy and sell crypto,” the ad reads.
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One lifelong Patriots fan says he believed the commercial, and invested $30,000 in FTX after Brady’s endorsement. Michael Livieratos, a 56-year-old legal clerk living in Connecticut, is part of an $11 billion class-action lawsuit that seeks to hold Brady and other celebrity endorsers of FTX accountable for customers’ financial losses.
There are 10 other celebrities listed besides Brady, including his ex-wife, Gisele Bundchen, NBA star Steph Curry and Larry David.
“As a New England Patriots fan my entire life, you can imagine the influence that Tom Brady would have,” Livieratos told the Washington Post.
FTX lost at least $10 billion in assets, according to bankruptcy filings, and can’t account for billions of it.
Earlier this week, the U.S. brought criminal and civil charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas, where FTX is located. Bankman-Fried has lost his entire $16 billion fortune in a matter of weeks.
The U.S. government is accusing Bankman-Fried of orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in the country’s history.
Coral Gables, Fla. attorney Alan Moskowitz, who’s representing Livieratos and other plaintiffs, thinks Brady and other celebrity-endorsers are complicit in SBF’s (alleged) fraud.
“You have very rich people we all love telling us that they checked this out, and it was okay,” Moskowitz told the WaPo. “Why shouldn’t they be held accountable?”
While it’s difficult to successfully sue promoters, Moskowitz is confident his clients have a case. If FTX’ accounts are ruled to be securities — a tradable financial asset — the defendants could be held responsible under “blue sky” laws that ban the promotion of unregistered securities.
Moskowitz also says the celebrity defenders violated a Florida consumer protection law, which bans “unconscionable, deceptive, or unfair acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.”
This isn’t the first time Brady has been accused of promoting a fraudulent product. Years ago, he endorsed a phony concussion-prevention drink.
His business partner and guru, Alex Guerrero, was once sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission for pitching a fake cancer cure.