In last week’s frenzy to keep up with guys getting new free-agent contracts, I failed to post this item regarding the frenzy to serve famous people with process in the lawsuit arising from the collapse of FTX.
The headline of the item from Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com focused on the inability of the plaintiffs to serve a summons and complaint on Shaquille O’Neal.
At least six different efforts were made to deliver the paperwork to Shaq, a massive human being who is ordinarily hard to miss. As of last week, Shaq still hadn’t been served.
According to Kaplan, a court filing shows that more than six attempts were made to serve free-agent quarterback Tom Brady. Eventually, Brady instructed his lawyers to accept a request for waiver of service, which they did on December 27, 2022.
Other defendants who eventually were served, directly or through waiver of service, include Brady’s ex-wife, Gisele Bundchen, comedian Larry David, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, baseball star Shohei Omani, and NBA star Steph Curry.
The lawsuit accuses the celebrity endorsers of failing to disclose that they were compensated to promote FTX, arguing that FTX accounts were opened in response to the urgings of celebrities.
One of the plaintiffs, Patriots fan Michael Livieratos, has said he transferred $30,000 from a rival crypto exchange to FTX because of Brady’s endorsement.
Brady had a massive deal with FTX, but the equity he received in exchange for lending his name to the platform has now become worthless. It’s a rare failure for a man who seems to have a Midas touch. In this case, however, the specific thing Brady fingered was always fool’s gold.
Of course, “everyone should have known this was all a scam” would probably not be the best defense to the lawsuit.