Taylor Swift Agreed to $100 Million Deal With FTX Before it Went Bankrupt, But FTX Pulled Out
Taylor Swift had signed a touring partnership deal with FTX before its collapse, but FTX backed out of the arrangement, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
If the deal had gone through, Swift would have joined the ranks of celebrities endorsing cryptocurrency products, many of whom are now facing financial losses and legal issues following FTX’s highly publicized downfall.
In a podcast interview, Adam Moskowitz, a lawyer representing customers suing FTX endorsers, revealed that Swift declined the sponsorship deal due to concerns about FTX’s involvement with unregistered securities.
FTX’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been accused of orchestrating a major financial fraud and faces multiple charges, including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, to which he pleaded not guilty.
While a person familiar with the Swift discussions claimed that a $100 million tour sponsorship deal had been agreed upon, it never reached finalization due to FTX’s hesitation.
The deal was rumored to incorporate NFTs into Swift’s tour ticketing, but it ultimately fell through after FTX employees raised concerns about the high cost.
Representatives for Taylor Swift declined to comment on the matter.
Other celebrities, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry, and Naomi Osaka, had also signed deals with FTX, which filed for bankruptcy. Brady and Bundchen likely lost their stakes in FTX as a result.
Celebrities who endorsed FTX and other cryptocurrency projects, such as Jimmy Fallon, Madonna, and Kim Kardashian, have faced legal scrutiny and accusations of lending credibility to risky crypto products.
Kardashian, for example, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission and agreed to pay a $1.3 million fine for promoting Ethereum Max without disclosing her payment of $250,000 for the endorsement.
