It’s not surprising that brands and companies pay many celebrities hefty amounts for promotions. Shaq was just one of them saying he was just a paid spokesperson for FTX and doesn’t believe in crypto. He was involved in a class action lawsuit against FTX. So, the FTX collapse probably pushed him to make this statement, and he has distanced himself from the industry.
The commercial that he did for FTX in June of 2922 featured him saying, “I’m excited to be partnering with FTX to help make crypto accessible to everyone. I’m all in. Are you?”
Shaq on crypto and FTX
In a recent interview with CNBC, Shaq answered questions regarding his relationship with the now-bankrupt platform FTX. He also talked about cryptocurrency and his thoughts on them. Shaq made it very clear that he doesn’t believe in the industry. That’s because he generally invests in companies he promotes but in the case of FTX, that was not the case. He was just a paid celebrity to do the advertisement. So, at least it is clear that he didn’t lose any money in FTX. In that sense, he had no involvement with the crypto exchange.
Shaq also said that he stays away from crypto because he doesn’t understand it. And we cannot say that it’s because of FTX because he said the same thing last year in an interview with CNBC. It doesn’t mean that Shaq will stay away from it forever because he does want to understand the industry though he believes “its too good to be true.”
However, he gave quite a positive statement in favour of crypto in front of the Senate Banking Committee. He said, “We need to get to the bottom of what happened at FTX, but we can’t let its collapse cause us to abandon the great promise and potential of crypto.”
Other celebrities involved with FTX
Shaq wasn’t the only one who was working with FTX for ads. A lot of other popular names like Kevin O’Leary, Steph Curry, Tom Brady and Larry David were involved. And their names were also present in the class action lawsuit against the company. Out of them, Kevin has been an active supporter of the platform, but he has lost all his investment, equity and also the money he made from featuring in the ad.
What are your thoughts, as Shaq says he was just a paid spokesperson for FTX? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found our content informative, share it with your family and friends.
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