The courtroom team that’s seeking billions of dollars in damages from three dozen celebrities for unlawfully promoting failed crypto exchange FTX and struggling rival Binance just added four famous new targets to their attack. On Nov. 27, Miami class action specialist Adam Moskowitz, who helped win a huge settlement in the Surfside tower collapse in Florida, filed a total of four class action lawsuits. Three of the salvos take aim at organizations that boosted FTX: Major League Baseball; Formula 1 and Mercedes-Benz, sponsor of its signature racing team; and as dual defendants, ad giant Dentsu and global talent agency Wasserman. The fourth defendant is soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, a onetime worldwide pitchperson for Binance.
In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Moskowitz explained the rationale behind the fresh onslaught, and the highly significant legal rulings that led to greatly expanding the field of defendants. Moskowitz, as well as legal legend David Boies, have already filed three active cases against celebrities and billionaires for touting tokens and accounts at digital exchanges. The big names in those actions range from sports stars Tom Brady and Steph Curry as FTX brand ambassadors, to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, to Mark Cuban, whose NBA Mavericks forged a promotional deal with Voyager, to Rob Gronkowski, who also did promos for the bankrupt exchange.
