Shaq distances himself from crypto and FTX collapse: ‘I was just a paid spokesperson’

Shaquille O'Neal wants to marque 1 happening clear: He doesn't judge successful crypto, if helium ever did.

That's aft being named successful a class-action suit against now-bankrupt cryptocurrency speech FTX past month, for promoting the institution successful a June commercial.

In an interrogation with CNBC Make It this week, the 50-year-old businessman and Basketball Hall of Famer took questions astir his narration with FTX portion discussing his different concern ventures.

O'Neal has a agelong past of investing successful companies helium promotes, including his existent enterprise, Shaq's Fun House, an yearly part-festival, part-carnival event. Those investments often cookware out: O'Neal makes much disconnected the tribunal than helium did arsenic an NBA star, helium told HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" successful 2018.

But erstwhile it comes to FTX, helium says, helium was simply a personage successful an ad.

"A batch of radical deliberation I'm involved, but I was conscionable a paid spokesperson for a commercial," O'Neal says.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused FTX laminitis and erstwhile CEO Sam Bankman-Fried of orchestrating a "brazen" years-long fraud, misusing lawsuit funds to payment himself and his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried was arrested connected Monday by Bahamian authorities, apt starring to extradition and a U.S. trial, CNBC reported. He'll face astatine slightest 8 charges from national prosecutors successful the Southern District of New York, including respective counts of conspiracy and fraud.

Customers person been incapable to retreat funds from FTX since the institution declared bankruptcy past month. As galore arsenic 1 cardinal creditors, according to an FTX bankruptcy filing, are unsure if they'll ever get their wealth back.

The class-action suit naming O'Neal is simply a ineligible proceeding abstracted from the national government's charges. It alleges that FTX's spokespeople "either controlled, promoted, assisted successful [or] actively participated" successful a crippled to "aggressively market" the company.

Other athletes and celebrities from FTX's commercials — including Steph Curry, Tom Brady, and comedian Larry David — were besides named successful the lawsuit. Texas is present separately investigating immoderate personage FTX endorsers for perchance violating authorities securities laws, according to Bloomberg.

The ex-basketball star's commercialized was somewhat of a surprise: Last year, O'Neal told CNBC Make It that helium was actively avoiding cryptocurrency.

"I don't recognize it, truthful I volition astir apt enactment distant from it until I get a afloat knowing of what it is," helium said, adding: "From my experience, it is excessively bully to beryllium true."

O'Neal told Front Office Sports past twelvemonth that he'd declined promotional offers from assorted crypto entities.

"I ever get these companies that say, 'Hey, we'll springiness you $900,000 successful crypto to nonstop retired a tweet,'" O'Neal said. "So I person to say, 'OK, if you're going to springiness maine a cardinal dollars worthy of crypto, past wherefore bash you request me?'"

He whitethorn person had a alteration of bosom successful precocious 2021, though: Over the past year, O'Neal changed his Twitter show sanction to "SHAQ.ETH" and "SHAQ.SOL" to beforehand NFT collections underpinned by the Ethereum and Solana cryptocurrency platforms.

"I'm excited to beryllium partnering with FTX to assistance marque crypto accessible to everyone," O'Neal said successful the June commercial. "I'm each in. Are you?"

Today, O'Neal cites his relationship with Curry arsenic a crushed helium consented to look successful the ad. A spokesperson for Curry declined to comment.

In the ad, O'Neal told viewers that helium checked his FTX relationship daily. But erstwhile asked present if he's bullish connected crypto, helium offers a elemental response: "No."

"People cognize I'm very, precise honest," O'Neal says. "I person thing to hide. If I was heavy involved, I would beryllium astatine the forefront saying, 'Hey.' But I was conscionable a paid spokesperson."

It's unclear however overmuch wealth O'Neal made from his FTX endorsement deal. Investor and entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary, who besides endorsed FTX and is named successful the suit, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" past week that helium was paid $15 cardinal by FTX, and mislaid it all: $9.7 cardinal that he'd invested with FTX, much than $1 cardinal successful FTX equity and astir $4 cardinal successful taxes and cause fees.

O'Leary said the wealth helium mislaid was his alone. "We request to get to the bottommost of what happened astatine FTX, but we can't fto its illness origin america to wantonness the large committedness and imaginable of crypto," helium testified to the Senate Banking Committee connected Wednesday.

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