The lawsuits against Shaquille O’Neal seem to be piling up.
As AfroTech previously told you, he was named in a class-action lawsuit alongside Naomi Osaka and Stephen Curry for endorsing what became a “fraudulent scheme” led by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. At least $1 billion in client funds were missing from the defunct firm, per Reuters, and the lawsuit is seeking more than $5 billion in damages, according to the The Moskowitz Law Firm.
O’Neal told “CNBC Make It” that he became involved only after seeing an ad with Curry.
Nonetheless, he continues to work to distance himself from the lawsuit mentioning he was “just a paid spokesperson.” He allegedly has been dodging being served in the lawsuit for some time.
But in a recent update, it appears he was officially served during the Miami Heat game on Tuesday, May 23, per Bloomberg Law.
While on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” on the same day, O’Neal jokingly thanked Curry for getting him in trouble. Although, it is not clear if he is, in fact, referencing the FTX lawsuit.
Now, O’Neal appears to have an even larger load on his hands. The Hollywood Reporter states there was a class-action lawsuit filed against the Astrals Project, which O’Neal created in 2022.
He launched the project accompanied by Music Manager Brian Bayati, who serves as the CEO, and his son Myles O’Neal, who is the head of investor relations.
The outlet also notes an NFT series titled the “Shaq Signature Pass,” was marketed as the “first consumable NFT of its kind, and the signing technology is one that we think will have wide-ranging applications.”
O’Neal is said to have “extensively promoted various cryptocurrency projects, including FTX and the Astrals Project, to his 30.4 million followers on Instagram and followers on other social media platforms,” according to a claim mentioned by investor Daniel Harper, who says he lost money after purchasing dozens of Astrals crypto tokens, per Bloomberg.
The lawsuit also mentions the tokens were not registered before being offered or sold.
Harper says O’Neal, “should have known of potential concerns about regulatory issues concerning the sale of unregistered crypto securities,” yet he pushed forward and promoted the NFTs.
Bloomberg adds that Harper seeks “compensatory damages, disgorgement, restitution, prejudgment interest, and injunctive relief on federal, Florida, and Virginia securities and consumer protection claims.”