Legendary basketball player Shaquille O’Neal has finally been served with a class action lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, a plaintiffs’ law firm tweeted on Sunday.
“Plaintiffs in the multi-billion dollar FTX class action have just been served @SHAQ in front of his house”, tweeted the law firm Moskowitz. “His home video cameras recorded our service and we have made it very clear that he must not destroy or erase any of these security tapes as they must be preserved for our lawsuit.” The video recording has not yet been released.
Adam Moskowitz, co-counsel in the FTX lawsuits, confirmed the story after this article was published. When the lawsuit is served on Shaq outside his Atlanta home, a dramatic, almost outlandish car chase ends, during which the superstar “has been in hiding and driving away from our process servers for the past three months,” Mostowitz said in an emailed statement to CoinDesk.
Attorneys Moskowitz and David Boies are handling the case filed by an Oklahoma FTX client named Edwin Garrison in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawyers have previously said they tried to reach O’Neal by leaving comments on his social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram. Earlier this month, a judge denied a request for electronic service from O’Neal.
“We just personally delivered Shaquille O’Neal to his home at 4 p.m. with a copy of our complaint,” Moskowitz said in an email to The Block. “We have taken Judge Moore’s instructions very seriously and are glad to finally bring this silly sideshow to a close.”
O’Neal, credited as “Shaqtoshi” in an FTX commercial, is one of several celebrities, including hundred-millionaire financier Kevin O’Leary, soccer star Tom Brady and basketball star Steph Curry, charged with a class-action lawsuit for promoting a ” confronted with a fraudulent plan.”
“Mr. O’Neal must now appear in federal court and explain to his millions of followers his fake “FTX: I Am All In” ad campaign, created by FTX advertising agency “Dentsu McGarrybowen” and the FTX Global Partnership Agency. Aquarius.” Moskowitz told CoinDesk.
Following FTX’s collapse last November, O’Neal said, “I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
CoinDesk was unable to reach O’Neal for comment.
Update (April 17, 12:51 UTC): Adds commentary by Adam Moskowitz and details throughout.