Some theories state that the famous couple had prior knowledge to what was going to happen.
FTX shocking news
It was news that rocked the crypto world, FTX was doing business with spurious tokens and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made certain moves that saw the company fall to pieces over the span of 24 hours, consecutively, It was the news that rocked the sports world: after nine years of marriage, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen were calling it quits. The announcement came as a surprise to many, as the couple had always seemed happy and well-suited for each other. However, in the months since the split was announced, new details have emerged that suggest there may have been more to the story than meets the eye.
In particular, attention has been focused on Brady and Bündchen’s involvement with FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that is now being accused of running a Ponzi scheme. The couple had been vocal supporters of FTX, even going so far as to star in a commercial for the company. However, shortly after their divorce was announced, an investor filed a lawsuit against both Brady and Bündchen, alleging that they had misled him about the risks of investing in FTX.
While it remains to be seen whether there is any truth to these allegations, they have led some to speculate that Brady and Bündchen’s divorce may have been connected to the fall of FTX. Only time will tell if this theory is true, but one thing is for sure: the dissolution of Football’s First Couple and the end of the “most altruistic crypto company” has everyone talking.
FTX and the collapse
Just months ago, FTX looked unstoppable. The crypto exchange was actively courting the highest echelons of Washington’s elite, its wunderkind CEO graced magazine cover after magazine cover, and A-listers including Tom Brady, Larry David, Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry, and Shaquille O’Neal were lining up to endorse the company and spread its reach to the masses.
FTX has since collapsed, in sudden and historic fashion, amid claims of corporate malfeasance on a scale that puts Enron to shame. As the once-dominant, now-defunct exchange grapples with bankruptcy and potential federal criminal inquiries, some are attempting to drag the company’s cadre of celebrity promoters down with it.
Class-action filed
On Wednesday, a group of plaintiffs filed a class-action suit against FTX in a federal court in Florida, and named multiple celebrity endorsers of FTX as co-defendants in the case. The suit’s claims — leveled not just at FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the company itself, but also at the likes of Tom Brady, Larry David, Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors, Naomi Osaka, along with numerous other celebrity promoters of the company — range from alleged violations of securities laws, to deceptive and false advertising, to conspiracy to commit fraud.
How likely are those hefty allegations to stick to the likes of Brady, David, Curry, and other former FTX promoters? While it remains to be seen whether or not the celebrities named in the suit will be held liable for their involvement with FTX, the case highlights the dangers that can come with endorsements from public figures.
Celebrities and Marketing
Celebrities typically command high fees for their endorsements, and they are often choosy about which brands they lend their name to any project or product. In return for their endorsement, celebrities typically request a certain degree of control over how their image is used by the brand — known as “moral rights” in legal parlance. In addition, celebrities typically demand that brands indemnify them against any legal liability that might arise from their endorsement — meaning that if something goes wrong with the product or service being promoted by the celebrity endorser, it is the brand, not the celebrity, who will be on the hook for any damages.
The fact that so many celebrities were willing to endorse FTX despite these risks is a testament to the company’s perceived legitimacy at the time. But as FTX’s fall from grace has shown, even endorsements from A-list celebrities cannot always shield a brand from allegations of wrongdoing.
What about Brady and Bundchen then?
Back to Brady, It’s no surprise that when two celebrities are going through a divorce, there’s a lot of speculation as to what really led to the split. In the case of Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, it seemed like there was a lot of truth to the rumors being spread by tabloids. Both parties’ PR teams did seem to be working closely with the tabloids to paint a picture of a marriage pushed to the brink by Brady’s football career. From the New York Post’s September exclusive on the couple’s fights, to TMZ’s October announcement of their divorce, it seemed like there was more to the story than what was being said publicly.
Culturework on the case
However, one TikTok Influencer who goes by Culturework has presented her research this week from the comfort of her plush bed, and it seems like there may be more to the story than meets the eye. Though her backdrop was casual, her deep dive was anything but. She has brought up some valid points that make it seem like the divorce may have been staged for publicity. It’s certainly a theory that hints at a possibility that both parties were in on it from the beginning, and that they knew exactly what they were doing when they worked with the tabloids. Only time will tell if these theories are true, but it’s definitely an interesting perspective to consider.
Immediately after Brady and Bündchen’s August vacation in the Bahamas, Brady gave an interview saying, “I’m 45 years old, man, there’s a lot of shit going on right now” — and thus began the aforementioned PR blitz for the dissolution of his marriage. From there, Culturework mentions a lot of suspiciously timed incidents: Bündchen taking repeated tropical vacations within days of each other; the timing of her recent mansion purchase; even the timing of the coverage of her supposed new jiu-jitsu trainer beau. (This week, she and Brady were named as defendants in a lawsuit suing FTX: “Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment — like these Defendants — to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest…pouring billions of dollars into the deceptive FTX platform to keep the whole scheme afloat,” the lawsuit claims.)
Some watching Culturework’s videos might just come to the conclusion that this divorce is a way for the impending financial disaster to fall on Brady and keep Bündchen and their children clean — at least that’s what a lot of the comments on the videos suggest. Even if that turns out not to be true, it’s certainly fishy that so many strange things have happened around the same time as this couple’s very public split.
Culturework’s three-part series on the divorce of Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen raises some interesting questions about the timing of the couple’s split and its possible connection to the financial troubles of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Needless to say all of this is just theory and rumor but it does add more mystery to the unraveling of the company as a whole
Innocent until proven guilty
If the allegations against FTX are true, it would be difficult to prove that the celebrities who have endorsed FTX products knew about any scheme to defraud consumers. However, if FTX is found to have violated securities laws, then the celebrities could be held liable for their endorsement of the company — even if they didn’t know about any illegal activity. This would likely result in significant damage to their reputations — and possibly even legal penalties. Therefore, while it remains to be seen how this lawsuit will play out, it’s definitely one worth watching closely if you’re a fan of any of the celebrities involved. As for The Brady’s there is no concrete evidence yet and if they are sued it will definitely be up to the judge to make the proper decision.
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