Reality star Kim Kardashian, boxing promoter Floyd Mayweather and other celebrities are trying to persuade a judge to throw out a review of the lawsuit that seeks to hold them accountable for allegedly promoting a fake token, EthereumMax (EMAX), without disclosing what it was. a paid guarantee.
Kardashian and Mayweather seek dismissal
On February 21, Floyd Mayweather and Kim Kardashian filed a motion urging Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald of the Central District of California to dismiss a second amended lawsuit filed by EMAX investors in December 2022.
According to Kardashian and Mayweather, the new allegations regurgitated the “same basic theory” that the court previously dismissed.
On December 7, Judge Fitzgerald threw out the class action lawsuit against the creators of EMAX and their celebrity endorsers, including Mayweather, Kim Kardashian, Giovanni Perone, Jona Rechnitz and former NBA star Paul Pierce, for their defense of cryptocurrency on social media.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts who bought EMAX tokens claimed they had lost money after hearing Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather talk about the value of EMAX.
According to the lawsuit, influential celebrities conspired to artificially increase the value of cryptocurrency.
Crypto investors should investigate
In his initial ruling, Judge Fitzgerald acknowledged that the allegations in the lawsuit caused genuine concern about the ability of famous people to easily convince millions of unsuspecting fans and followers to buy anything with unprecedented ease.
However, Judge Fitzgerald reminded complainants that it was their responsibility to perform due diligence before investing their money. According to the judge, the plaintiff’s claims were not sufficiently substantiated, particularly given the high threshold of proof required for fraud claims.
In his decision, Fitzgerald stated that he would allow disgruntled investors to refile their lawsuit against Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather after reviewing some of their claims under various laws referenced in the initial lawsuit, including the Law of corrupt and extortionist-influenced organizations (RICOs).
However, Kardashian, Mayweather and their co-defendants argue that the idea that celebrities promoted EMAX tokens to artificially inflate their price, which is a central basis of the amended complaint, has already been rejected by the court.
According to Kardashian and Mayweather’s request to dismiss the renewed lawsuit, the EMAX tokens had no intrinsic value beyond what the market was willing to pay.
Reports last year indicated that Kardashian, who has more than 345 million followers on Instagram, was paid $250,000 to promote EMAX on her profile. To settle the allegations, the famous reality star agreed to pay $1.26 million in October 2022.
