NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was featured in ads for cryptocurrency exchange FTX over the summer, saying he was “excited to be partnering with FTX to help make crypto accessible for everyone” and that he was “all in.” Now, the Hall of Famer would like to make it clear that he doesn’t actually understand crypto at all, like most of us.
FTX collapsed last month as it was revealed to essentially be a giant Ponzi scheme while founder Sam Bankman-Fried was recently arrested over “violations of securities laws.” Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit was filed in November against celebrities who promoted FTX, including Larry David, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Steph Curry, and Shaq.
Speaking with CNBC Make It this week, O’Neal wanted to make it very clear that while he got paid to promote FTX, he doesn’t have the first clue what it is they do and what crypto even means.
“A lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial,” O’Neal said. “I don’t understand it, so I will probably stay away from it until I get a full understanding of what it is. From my experience, it is too good to be true.”
“People know I’m very, very honest. I have nothing to hide,” he added. “If I was heavily involved, I would be at the forefront saying, ‘Hey’. But I was just a paid spokesperson.”
It’s not known how much O’Neal made from his FTX endorsement deal but others have said they were compensated upward of $15 million.
Does a lack of knowledge about how crypto works excuse Shaq’s paid promotion of a company if that company ends up defrauding customers? That’s the question that’ll be answered through that lawsuit in the days ahead.
[CNBC]