Rob Gronkowski, Victor Oladipo, Landon Cassill Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Voyager Lawsuit – What Does This Mean for FTX Celebrities?

Key Takeaways

• Rob Gronkowski, Victor Oladipo and Landon Cassill were sued for their role in endorsing Voyager Digital.
• Gronkowski will pay $1.9 million to settle the case while Oladipo and Cassill will pay $500,000 and $25,000 respectively.
• The litigation has important implications for a similar class action lawsuit brought against FTX’s celebrity endorsers.

Last year, separate class action lawsuits were filed against celebrities who endorsed Voyager Digital and FTX . 

In the first case, three defendants – Rob Gronkowski, Victor Oladipo and Landon Cassill –  have now settled the claims against them. Could Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal and other FTX celebrity endorsers follow suit?

Celebrities Settle Voyager Lawsuit

In the Voyager case, Cassill, Gronkowski and Oladipo have agreed to pay  $2.4 million between them to settle charges that they participated in the sale of unregistered securities.

National Football League star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski will pay the largest sum – $1.9 million. Meanwhile, National Basketball Association player Victor Oladipo will pay $500,000, and Nascar driver Landon Cassill will pay $25,000. 

The other defendants named in the litigation, Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, have not agreed to any settlement.

Two central questions underpin the class action lawsuit. These are whether VGX tokens and/or Voyager Earn Program Accounts (EPAs) be considered securities and whether the defendants should be considered sellers.

These same questions also frame a string of lawsuits brought, now consolidated in Miami, against FTX’s celebrity endorsers.

FTX Class Action Ongoing

Although the latest settlement doesn’t amount to any admission of guilt, it suggests the sports stars think there is a chance they would lose in court.

Some celebrities named in FTX litigation have also settled claims against them. In September, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the YouTube influencers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to release themselves from the ongoing lawsuit.

At the time, lawyers leading the class action lawsuit said  they were “engaged in ongoing confidential, settlement discussions” with other defendants and there is a “likelihood that other FTX settlements will be reached.”

However, some defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

What Next for FTX Endorsers?

Through his lawyers, Brady, who invested $30 million in FTX and appeared in TV advertisements for the platform, has insisted his promotional efforts didn’t involve the sale or solicitation of cryptocurrencies and that he had no knowledge of the company’s fraud. 

Likewise, in an interview with CNBC last year, O’Neal said : “I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”

For Brady, O’Neal and the other remaining co-defendants, there is a greater incentive to settle after their one-time benefactor Sam Bankman-Fried agreed to provide the plaintiffs with evidence, including testimony against FTX’s celebrity promoters.

Another important factor to consider is what will happen to the Voyager holdouts who aren’t party to the latest settlement agreement.

Unless they reach a separate deal, Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks will go to trial in November to determine their liability. 

The potential courtroom showdown could have important consequences for the FTX case. It all depends on the same question of whether the celebrities involved crossed the line from paid endorsement to solicitation.