There’s an ongoing class-action lawsuit against bankrupt cryptocurrency firm FTX and 11 celebrities over their endorsements of the brand. Those celebrities include a ton of notable sports and sports media figures, including Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, and Naomi Osaka. And there are now some further interesting details on Brady’s particular involvement, from an interview that Michael Lewis (the famed author of Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Undoing Project and much more, and the author of an upcoming Going Infinite biography of currently-on-trial FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried) did with CBS’ Jon Wertheim on 60 Minutes Sunday:
"I didn't know if I ever wanted to write again," Michael Lewis told 60 Minutes' @jon_wertheim. He since found pleasure in the craft and has a new book about FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. https://t.co/rgB90z3trz pic.twitter.com/bTuGAezjDS
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 2, 2023
There are some really interesting quotes in that interview Lewis did with Wertheim on former NFL QB, current Religion of Sports figure, and somewhat (soon-to–be-more) Fox figure Brady in particular:
Michael Lewis: He paid Tom Brady $55 million for 20 hours a year for three years. He paid Steph Curry $35 million for– same thing for three years.
…Jon Wertheim: Did any of the people surrounding him, these celebrities, do it ’cause they found him interesting or was it all because he’s worth $20 some billion dollars?
Michael Lewis: It’s probably not fair for me to speak for them, but I will speak for them. Tom Brady, I think, adored him.’
….Michael Lewis: I think Tom Brady thought he was just a really interesting person. I think he liked to hear what he had to say. And he really liked Tom Brady. And Sam wasn’t, like, a big sports person. So it was funny to watch that interaction. It was like, “These two people actually get along.” It’s like the class nerd and the quarterback–
Jon Wertheim: The two high school tribes–
Michael Lewis: Yeah. Yeah. No. The nerd of all nerds. (laughs) Like, even the nerds don’t hang out with this nerd, he’s such a nerd. (laughs) The quarterback somehow likes him. And he somehow likes the quarterback.
The FTX celebrity lawsuit remains ongoing. And it’s led to many interesting things so far, including a wild arc on properly serving Shaq. But Brady hasn’t wound up all that discussed there, so it’s interesting to see him particularly spotlighted. And it’s notable to see him highlighted at a higher rate of pay than Curry, and to see the discussion about how much Brady apparently liked Bankman-Fried. We’ll see if Brady gets more discussion here going forward.
