NFL Quarterback Trevor Lawrence and YouTubers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash Reach Agreement in FTX Case

JAKARTA - National Football League (NFL) quarterback Trevor Lawrence and influential YouTubers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash have reportedly reached a settlement agreement in a case involving claims of inadequate disclosure of compensation in their promotions for the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX.

According to a Bloomberg report on September 16, the three celebrities have entered into a proposition-agreement; however, details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Cointelegraph reported that several celebrities and other well-known influencers involved in class-action lawsuits, for example, Lawrence, Paffrath, and Nash were reportedly the first to reach a settlement.

Other well-known celebrities and influencers involved in the class-action lawsuit include Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Kevin O'Leary, Shaquille O'Neal, Naomi Osaka, and David Ortiz.

Meanwhile, Paffrath and Nash are two of eight YouTubers accused of failing to disclose their compensation. The other six include Graham Stephan, Andrei Jikh, Jaspreet Singh, Brian Jung, Jeremy Lefebvre, and Erika Kullberg.

The talent management company responsible for FTX's promotions, Creators Agency, is also named in the lawsuit.

On September 11, a court filing revealed that FTX was considering ways to return millions of dollars paid to famous athletes and sports teams who promoted the crypto exchange before its bankruptcy in November 2022.

According to the lawsuit, Trevor Lawrence received 205,555 US dollars (IDR 3.1 billion), Shaquille O'Neal received around 750,000 US dollars (IDR 11.5 billion), and Kevin O'Leary was the highest with a fee of 2,348,338 US dollars (IDR 36 billion).

On March 15, a class-action lawsuit was initially filed, claiming that the influencers inadequately disclosed the true nature of their FTX promotions, which were actually paid content rather than content that stemmed from genuine interest.

"While FTX paid Defendants well to promote its brand and encourage their followers to invest, Defendants did not disclose the nature and scope of their sponsorship and/or endorsement deals, payments and compensation, or conduct adequate due diligence (if any)."