Shaquille O’Neal was served with two different complaints while working for TNT covering the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night in Miami.
O’Neal, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer Adam Moskowitz, was served with regard to a complaint relating to an NFT company created by he and son, Myles.
It is alleged that O’Neal ‘violated federal security laws’ in the process, with the NFTS ‘unregistered securities’ at his company, ASTRALS.
The Nba Legend was also provided with a copy of the FTX case, which he was finally served with last month. Both cases are presently before the Miami Federal Court.
‘It seems absurd to have to go to such great lengths to serve Mr. O’Neal, who is deputy of the law,’ said Moskowitz, representing the FTX and ASTRALS investors.
O’Neal was served with a new lawsuit regarding an NFT company he co-created according to the plaintiff’s lawyer, while working for TNT covering the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals
The NBA legend was a ‘paid spokesperson’ for the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange
‘These claims now are very serious and thus it is good that we can start with the merits, instead of the silly service sideshow Mr. O’Neal unfortunately created.’
O’Neal is also facing a class-action lawsuit involving high-profile FTX endorsers, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry and Larry David.
The suit was filed last November by Edwin Garrison, who claims he opened an account with the now-bankrupt crypto exchange after ‘being exposed to’ celebrity endorsements and their alleged ‘misrepresentations and omissions.’
Moskowitz also accused O’Neal of being deceitful in an FTX commercial, so he could earn ‘millions of dollars’.
O’Neal hosted a Super Bowl Party at Shaq’s Fun House in partnership with FTX in February 2022, ahead of Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.
FTX was a high-profile cryptocurrency exchange that made major inroads with investors, thanks to celebrity endorsements. On November 11, it filed for bankruptcy.
The following month, O’Neal told CNBC he was merely a ‘paid spokesperson.’
‘A lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial,’ O’Neal said.
Retired QB Tom Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bundchen both promoted FTX during their marriage
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on stage with Gisele Bundchen at a conference during 2022
In September 2021, speaking on cryptocurrency to CNBC Make It, O’Neal remarked: ‘I don’t understand it, so I will probably stay away from it until I get a full understanding of what it is…From my experience, it is too good to be true.’
Other defendants listed in the suit are tennis player Naomi Osaka, Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem, former MLB star David Ortiz, LA Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, comedian Larry David, entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary and FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The lawsuit argues the exchange’s interest-bearing accounts were technically a security, requiring its endorsers to publicize details of their compensations from FTX.
‘They have never disclosed the nature, scope, and amount of compensation they personally received in exchange for the promotion,’ the complaint alleges.
