YouTube influencers are facing a $1 billion lawsuit for promoting FTX
- Plaintiff Edwin Garrison is seeking $1 billion in damages in a lawsuit against YouTube influencers.
- Garrison claims that influencers have actively marketed FTX without revealing the nature of the endorsement paid to their followers.
- Meet Kevin, BitBoy Crypto, and LegalEagle gave their opinions on the matter.
On March 15, plaintiff Edwin Garrison filed a class-action lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages against YouTube influencers who promoted FTX. The lawsuit seeks to hold influencers liable for the losses of FTX investors. Accordingly, outside experts and some of the defendants expressed their opinions.
According to the court document, the class action lawsuit claims that YouTube influencers should be held accountable for promoting FTX. In detail, the plaintiff alleges that the YouTubers provided financial advice and marketed FTX to their millions of followers without disclosing the nature of their sponsorship and/or endorsement relationships to their audience.
Although FTX paid the Defendants handsomely to push their brand and encourage their followers to invest, the Defendants did not disclose the nature and scope of their sponsorships and/or endorsement deals, payments, and compensation, nor did they conduct adequate due diligence (if any).
The defendants in the lawsuit are the aforementioned YouTube influencers. These include Kevin Paffrath, Graham Steffan, Andre Geech, Jasprit Singh, Brian Jung, Jeremy Lefebvre, Tom Nash, Ben Armstrong, Erika Kohlberg and Creators Agency, LLC.
In response to the lawsuit, Kevin Paffrath (Mette Kevin) speaks with internet whistleblower Covesela. Paffrath denied claims that he was responsible for any losses from FTX. Furthermore, he said he was considering paying back some of the money, but only as a “charity”.
I’ve reached out to all the influencers involved, so far only Meet Kevin (Kevin Paffrath) has responded. He’d be willing to look into paying some of the money back as “charity,” but says he’s not responsible for your losses. Full video soon. pic.twitter.com/3d9yVcPCJF
– Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) March 16, 2023
Speaking to other sources, Paffrath also said the claim of non-disclosure of sponsorship/endorsement was false. Paffrath has stated that he regularly discloses his sponsored videos, and all of his videos on FTX contain a disclaimer stating this.
Ben Armstrong (BitBoy Crypto), another one of the defendants, mocked the lawsuit on Twitter and threatened a counterclaim. Armstrong claimed he never paid FTX sponsorship and had no connections or deals with the company.
counters to come. The lawyers in this case couldn’t be more stupid. I never contacted anyone at FTX and never got a relink link. Show me you’re stupid without telling me you’re stupid I’m going to roast these people with low IQ and their lawyer https://t.co/1y2ct85vFq
– Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) March 16, 2023
Notably, the popular YouTube lawyer Lawyer noted that the lawsuit was a “copy-and-paste job” of a previous FTX-related claim. LegalEagle notes that the YouTube influencer lawsuit and another influencer lawsuit involving celebrities like Tom Brady have similar attorneys, plaintiffs, and claims.
Meanwhile, most netizens seem to be out for blood. Many of the tweets quoting the lawsuit seek to find crypto influencers responsible for FTX’s losses.
The post on YouTube Influencers Facing $1 Billion Lawsuit for FTX Promotion first appeared in Coin Edition.
