During a live broadcast of an NBA game, Shaquille O’Neal received a new summons to appear in court for promoting the collapsed FTX. The Wall Street Journal reports this.
O’Neal was also named in a separate suit for promoting NFT-collection Astrals. The documents allege that non-fungible tokens were unregistered securities.
“The state of Astrals NFT investors and the value of the tokens are almost entirely tied to Shaquille O’Neal’s celebrity status and the success of his advertising campaigns,” the complaint states.
Astrals was the brainchild of the NBA star, according to the prosecution. The appointment of his son, Miles O’Neal, as head of investor relations indicates that the Astrals team viewed the project as a marketing opportunity.
Two lawsuits are being pursued in tandem by the law firms Moskowitz and Boies Schiller Flexner. In April the athlete already received a summons in the FTX case. Later the star’s lawyers challenged the complaint.
Attorney Adam Moskowitz said that this now allows the proceedings to move forward.
Moskowitz also noted that O’Neal escorted the lawyers out of the game after delivering the documents. The entire process was filmed to avoid any ambiguity. According to the basketball player, last time the summons were thrown into his car.
Shaquille O’Neal is the latest in a group of celebrities sued for promoting FTX. Among them are former basketball player Stephen Curry, NFL Tom Brady, comedian Larry David and Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka.
In May, it emerged that the lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are seeking the court to drop many charges ahead of the main trial. They ask to dismiss nearly all counts, except for the conspiracy to commit securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering.