Stephen Curry, Tom Brady, And Others Cleared Of Key Allegations In FTX Collapse Case

The “Celebrity Defendants” also included Gisele Bündchen, Kevin O’Leary, Shohei Ohtani, Larry David, Naomi Osaka, Udonis Haslem, and the Golden State Warriors.

A Florida federal judge has reportedly dismissed most claims brought against celebrities and influencers who promoted the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, significantly narrowing the scope of investor lawsuits tied to its 2022 failure.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore concluded that the plaintiffs — FTX investors — failed to show that celebrities such as Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, and Kevin O’Leary had sufficient knowledge of the alleged fraud by FTX or its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, as per a CNBC report. 

The court dismissed the bulk of the allegations against the group labeled the “Celebrity Defendants,” which also included Shohei Ohtani, Larry David, Naomi Osaka, Udonis Haslem, and the Golden State Warriors.

The judge also dismissed most claims against the “YouTuber Defendants,” a group of online influencers accused of promoting FTX to retail audiences via social media.

“The plaintiffs fail to adequately plead causation,” Moore wrote, adding that they also failed to “plausibly allege defendants’ knowledge of FTX’s fraud.” While the celebrities may have been “uninformed, negligent, or even reckless,” he said, there was no evidence they had the “requisite intent to deceive or defraud investors.”

The ruling also rejected civil conspiracy claims, with Moore finding that simply receiving payment for promotional content does not constitute grounds for conspiracy liability.

The litigation stems from FTX’s sudden collapse in November 2022, which resulted in billions of dollars in losses and prompted criminal and civil investigations. 

The investors had argued that the stars were paid millions to endorse FTX while failing to disclose their compensation, violating advertising laws.

The plaintiffs may file an amended complaint, but Moore clarified that any future claims must include stronger evidence directly tying the defendants to FTX’s misconduct.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was rallying during U.S. trading hours. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly surpassed $101,000 before retreating slightly, marking the first time Bitcoin’s price has crossed the $100,000 mark since February. 

Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) also rallied, rising over 13% to top $2,000 for the first time since March.

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