Judge dismisses most charges against FTX’s celebrity boosters

A federal judge in Florida dismissed most claims against athletes, actors, YouTubers, and other celebrities who endorsed Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, ruling that there isn’t sufficient proof that they knew about FTX or Bankman-Fried’s fraudulent acts . The high-profile defendants, sued by a group of FTX investors, include Tom Brady and his ex-wife, the model Gisele Bündchen; Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary; Larry David; Shohei Ohtani; Udonis Haslem; David Ortiz; Naomi Osaka; and Steph Curry, as well as the entire Golden State Warriors franchise. A group of “YouTuber defendants” who promoted FTX on social media were also sued. Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida cleared both groups of defendants of most claims, writing that the plaintiffs failed to “adequately plead causation” and “plausibly argue Defendants’ knowledge of FTX fraud.” The celebrities who backed Bankman-Fried’s exchange may have been “uninformed, negligent, or even reckless,” Moore wrote, but the FTX investors who sued them didn’t know they “had any knowledge of FTX’s fraud” or “had the requisite intent to deceive and defraud investors.” But that doesn’t mean the case is fully over. The celebrities still face claims for violating state securities laws in Florida and Oklahoma, and Moore ruled that the plaintiffs can amend their complaint — they’ll just need to bring more robust evidence if they do.