Legendary basketball icon Shaquille O’Neal has been served in a class-action lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a tweet from the Moskowitz law firm representing the plaintiffs.
The firm stated that plaintiffs in the billion-dollar FTX class action case served O’Neal outside his home. They also noted that his home video cameras recorded the service and have warned him not to destroy or erase any of the security footage, as it must be preserved for the lawsuit. The video recording has not been released.
Adam Moskowitz, co-counsel on the FTX lawsuits, claimed that O’Neal had been “hiding and driving away from our process servers for the past three months.” Attorneys Moskowitz and David Boies are handling the case, which was filed by Oklahoma FTX customer Edwin Garrison in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The legal team had previously attempted to reach O’Neal through comments on his social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram. A judge had denied a motion to allow O’Neal to be served electronically earlier this month.
Moskowitz expressed relief at finally ending what he called a “silly sideshow”. He stated that O’Neal, referred to as “Shaqtoshi” in an FTX commercial, will now be required to appear in federal court and explain his involvement in the “FTX: I Am All In” advertising campaign he promoted to his millions of followers. The campaign was created by advertising agency Dentsu McGarrybowen and FTX Global Partnership Agency Wasserman.
O’Neal is among several celebrities, including financier Kevin O’Leary, football star Tom Brady, and basketball star Steph Curry who are facing a class-action lawsuit for promoting an alleged “fraudulent scheme”. After FTX collapsed in November, O’Neal stated, “I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
